More signs of discontent in the Spanish armed forces over the Socialist government's policies emerged today with an army officer voicing public concern over what he called the breaking up of Spain.
Captain Roberto Gonzalez Calderon's letter, containing a long list of grievances, to Melilla Hoynewspaper came days after the government sacked an army commander for warning that the military could intervene in politics if the Catalonia region succeeded in its bid for greater independence.
Army regulations bar Spanish soldiers from making public statements about politics.
The soldiers' comments have revived memories of Spain's long dictatorship under General Francisco Franco that ended with his death in 1975.
Although Spain witnessed a failed military coup as recently as 1981, most Spaniards think the country has been so transformed that it would now be inconceivable for the army to again meddle in politics.
Gonzalez wrote to contradict Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's assertion that there was no concern in the military over a proposed Catalan statute that would give the region greater powers.
"Of course there is unease, it couldn't be otherwise, both within and outside the armed forces. Unease at seeing how our Spain is being broken up...," wrote Gonzalez, who is based in Melilla, a Spanish enclave in North Africa.
Soldiers in Melilla were among the first to rise up at the start of the 1936-39 Civil War that brought Franco to power.
Gonzalez said he had considered "turning up with my company at the Defence Ministry and delivering this letter to Mr (Defence Minister Jose) Bono by hand" but had given up the idea.
He said there was general unease over how "everything that is contrary to the idea of Spain, the Church, family ... is in fashion."