Madrid, 25 (EFE).- Antonio Tejero, the former lieutenant colonel of the Spanish Civil Guard who led the coup attempt on Feb 23, 1981, died Wednesday at the age of 93 in Alzira, Valencia. His death coincided with the Spanish government’s declassification of secret documents pertaining to the attempted coup.
«It is with deep sorrow that I inform you that today, February 25, 2026, my father, Antonio Tejero Molina, has passed away in the company of all his children. He received the last rites and the blessing of His Holiness Leo XIV. I give infinite thanks to God for his devoted and generous life to God, Spain, and his family. I ask for your prayers for his eternal rest. Thank you,» reads Tejero’s son’s statement.
Tejero was expelled from the Civil Guard and convicted after his assault on the Congress of Deputies, and was later granted parole in 1996.
Born in Malaga on April 30, 1932, he joined the Civil Guard in 1951 and was head of the Civil Guard headquarters in Guipúzcoa, from where he had to request a forced transfer following public statements against the 1977 legalization of the ikurriña, the Basque flag forbidden during General Francisco Franco’s dictatorship (1939-1975).
Once stationed in Malaga, Tejero disallowed a previously authorized demonstration, which he justified on the grounds that Spain was in mourning for the death of the president of the Vizcaya Provincial Council in an attack, over which he was arrested by decision of the Civil Guard Directorate.
Tejero was also disciplined in 1978 for an open letter to the King in the newspaper El Imparcial, in which he expressed his disagreement with the Constitution.
In November of that year, he was arrested again when his name appeared in connection with Operation Galaxia, which sought to end the nascent Spanish democracy.
On July 8, 1980, he was sentenced to seven months and one day for participating in the first coup attempt.
On February 23, 1981, Tejero, in command of Civil Guard forces, stormed the Congress and held the government and members of parliament hostage in an attempted coup d’état.
During the night, various military authorities, including General Aramburu Topete and General Sabino Fernández Campo, tried to convince him to desist.
Finally, after speaking with Lieutenant Colonel Fuentes Gómez de Salazar, who informed him that the coup had been aborted abroad, he signed his surrender and left the Chamber at 12 noon on Feb. 24.
Along with other commanders and officers, on June 3, 1982, the Supreme Council of Military Justice sentenced him to 30 years in prison.
The 30-year sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court on April 22, 1983, and the defendant was also sentenced to the additional penalty of loss of employment.
On December 3, 1996, he was granted parole. He was the last of those convicted for 23-F to be released from prison.
He lived with one of his daughters in Alzira, a town in Valencia, where he died on Wednesday, two days after the 45th anniversary of the coup attempt. EFE
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