A Spanish Civil Guard officer whose dramatic attempt to overthrow democracy became one of the most memorable moments in modern European history has passed away at age 93.
Antonio Tejero died peacefully Wednesday in Alzira, Valencia, surrounded by family members and after receiving last rites, according to his family’s legal representatives at A. Cañizares Abogados.
Television cameras captured the shocking scene on February 23, 1981, when Tejero marched into Spain’s parliament chamber at 6:23 p.m. wearing his distinctive three-cornered hat and waving a handgun. He commanded legislators to remain quiet and drop to the ground as additional rebel guards entered with automatic weapons, firing shots into the air while terrified lawmakers cowered behind their desks.
The national television network RTVE recorded thirty minutes of the dramatic takeover before being forced to shut off their equipment. That footage, broadcast the following day and repeatedly over the years, became permanently etched in Spanish collective memory.
For approximately seventeen hours, Tejero and his followers kept parliament members captive, disrupting the ceremonial installation of Spain’s newly elected democratic leadership.
The conspirators sought to restore authoritarian rule, just five years after dictator Francisco Franco’s passing had opened the door to Spain’s first democratic elections in forty years.
This coup attempt represented a crucial test for Spain’s young democracy and its constitution, which had been established only three years prior. King Juan Carlos I strengthened his democratic credentials by swiftly condemning the uprising through a televised address backing the legitimate government.
Born April 30, 1932, in Malaga province to teacher Antonio Tejero Camacho and Dolores Molina Labrada, Tejero grew up in military surroundings that shaped his worldview. His family relocated to a military installation shortly before his birth, where they experienced the early years of Spain’s 1936-1939 civil conflict.
According to historian Roberto Muñoz Bolaños, this military upbringing instilled in young Tejero the fascist principles of Franco’s government: opposition to communism and liberalism, resistance to regional autonomy, and “most importantly, belief in military supremacy over civilian authority.”
At nineteen, Tejero entered Spain’s military academy and was placed in the Civil Guard, a military branch handling civilian law enforcement. His advancement through officer ranks came rapidly due to his ideological alignment with commanding officers.
Following Franco’s death, Tejero transformed from exemplary soldier to disruptive force as Franco supporters lost military influence. He attributed Spain’s problems to democratic governance.
Disciplinary actions became frequent for insubordination, and in 1977 he lost his command position at a Civil Guard facility in Malaga after blocking an approved public demonstration, claiming the date should honor a fallen Civil Guard member from Barcelona.
The emergence of the now-defunct Basque separatist organization ETA and perceived efforts to diminish military power motivated him to develop “Operation Galaxia” in 1978 with fellow officers. Their scheme involved seizing the Moncloa presidential palace in Madrid and holding the prime minister and cabinet members hostage.
However, one conspirator exposed the plot before execution. Tejero received a prison sentence of seven months and one day, as reported by ABC newspaper.
Upon his release, Tejero immediately began organizing the 1981 attempt that would make him infamous.
He gained support from Lieutenant General Jaime Milans del Bosch for the operation, with the condition they claim royal authorization. When Juan Carlos declined to endorse their actions and instead supported democratic institutions, the coup collapsed.
Tejero and Milans del Bosch faced trial as primary conspirators, receiving thirty-year sentences.
While imprisoned, he established a far-right political organization called Solidaridad Española, but managed only 28,451 votes – insufficient for parliamentary representation.
Muñoz Bolaños wrote in the academic publication Aportes that Tejero’s path “demonstrates, more clearly than any other military leader, how a segment of the armed forces failed to adjust to Spain’s transformations since the 1960s and grasp that democracy requires consensus, dialogue and acceptance of opposing viewpoints.”
“Such concepts remained incomprehensible to a military officer shaped by Francoist ideology,” the historian noted.
Released in 1996, Tejero spent his remaining years largely out of public view, reportedly supplementing his military pension by selling artwork to supporters, according to La Sexta television.
His rare public statements showed no remorse for his actions.
“It cost me my career and my freedom, but despite that I do not regret having tried,” Tejero told Alvaro Romero Ferreiro in an interview for the 2021 book “Tejero: Man of Honour.”
One notable recent appearance was witnessing Franco’s remains being moved to Mingorrubio cemetery near Madrid in 2019 after exhumation from the mausoleum the dictator had constructed for himself.
Tejero wed schoolteacher Carmen Diez Pereira, with whom he raised six children: Carmen, Dolores, Antonio, Elvira, Ramon and Juan. His son Ramon, a Catholic priest, conducted the religious service before Franco’s reburial.
At Franco’s daughter’s 2017 funeral, Tejero stated he continued praising Franco for providing Spain with “40 years of happiness.”
The bullet holes created by Tejero’s forces on February 23, 1981, remain visible in the parliamentary chamber’s ceiling today.
