Café para todos facts for kids

"Café para todos" (which means coffee for all or coffee for everyone) is a well-known saying in Spain. It means that everyone involved in a situation gets the same treatment. This is done to try and make everyone equally happy (or sometimes equally unhappy!).

This phrase was first used by Manuel Clavero Arévalo. He was a government minister between 1977 and 1980. This was during the Spanish Transition to democracy. At that time, Spain was changing from a dictatorship (where one person had all the power) to a democracy (where people vote for their leaders). A big discussion was whether Spain should have a strong central government or if its regions should have more power. Some regions wanted more freedom to govern themselves. The solution, which was supposed to be fair to everyone, was to offer some self-government to all regions.

Manuel Clavero, who first used the phrase.

Understanding "Café para todos"

The way Spain is organized today was inspired by countries like Germany and Italy. Manuel Clavero was the Minister of Regions in the first democratic government led by Adolfo Suárez. He helped design the new map of Spain.

Spain's Autonomous Communities

Spain's different areas are called autonomous communities of Spain. Each community could choose how much independence it wanted. Some chose a lot, and some chose a little. But all of them have their own self-government. The saying café para todos has become a way to describe how Spain's regions are set up today. It shows that all regions received some level of self-rule.

See also

In Spanish: Café para todos para niños

• First government of Adolfo Suárez
• Nationalities and regions of Spain