however, the journalist antonio maestre adds a definition that goes beyond the political sphere, describing sociological francoism as:the collection of citizens and politicians that, having lived well under francoism and supported its ideas, were in favour of opening up the regime to a certain degree to ensure that the transition would proceed in a tolerable direction.the popularity of franco during his dictatorship was not measured in opinion polls, but in the legitimacy of the army and the charismatic legitimacy of his person (caudillismo), as well as the widespread social binding that took place through the movimiento nacional (all of which are typical elements of fascism). together, these ensured massive public demonstrations of support and the practically unanimous results in sporadically held national referenda (such as the spanish organic law referendum of 1966). in 1969, in one of his last televised christmas addresses, franco spoke of spain's future, saying that all was "atado y bien atado" (literally "tied and well tied", referring to the institutionalization of his regime), which became a popular saying in spain. any clues to his personal health were carefully scrutinized, as were his cryptically-expressed intentions, such as the phrase "no hay mal que por bien no venga" (roughly equivalent to "every cloud has a silver lining"), which he used in reference to the assassination of luis carrero blanco in 1973 by the basque separatist group eta, and whose meaning was the subject of endless speculation. in a secret 1971 interview with vernon walters, envoy of richard nixon, franco expressed his opinion that upon his death, spanish society would carry out a political evolution that would not break with his legacy, as the now larger and more well-off spanish middle class would avoid risking another civil war.