Antonio Tejero
Antonio Tejero with a gun in his hand, breaking into the Congress of Deputies February 23, 1981, attempting a coup. Below to the
right is the defence minister Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado
Antonio Tejero Molina (born 1932, Málaga) was a Spanish Lieutenant-Colonel, and the leader of an attempted
coup d'etat of the Spanish Congress in 1981.
He entered the Guardia Civil in 1951 and was the leader of the
Comandancia in Guipúzcoa, but had to ask to be transferred to another region
when his public declarations against the Ikurriña was known. His life is filled
with pro-coup episodes, and he played an important role of the coups during the transición in San Sebastian, Málaga and Madrid. He was the captain-general of
the third military region, until the event of 23-F took place.
23-F: The attempted coup, February 23, 1981
On February 23, 1981, at 6.21pm,
Antonio Tejero together with a group of 200 Guardia Civil armed
officers stormed into the Spanish Congress of
Deputies, the lower house of the Cortes. When they entered, the
Congress was about to elect the new Prime Minister (Presidente del Gobierno) Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo, who would take the place of Adolfo Suárez.
At the same time, many military leaders close to Tejero, led by General Miláns del Bosch, declared a
state of emergency and ordered tanks out on the street in Valencia. The King (Juan Carlos) hesitated and made several phone calls to see whether enough military support could be guaranteed
to confront the insurgents. After several hours, and having ensured the support of the elite paratroop division, the King held a
televised speech at 01:14 AM, voicing his condemnation of the coup and that Spain’s democratic process should continue
peacefully. The occupants of the Congress surrendered the morning after without harming anyone, having held hostage Spain's
parliament and Cabinet for 18 hours.
Aftermath
Tejero was arrested outside the Congress building, and both he and Miláns del Bosch were sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Armada was arrested February 28, 1981,
and sentenced to 6 years in prison. He was released December 24, 1988, insisting that he had been a victim of a conspiracy set up by Tejero. In all 30 of the 33
suspected set on trial for the attempted coup were convicted.
Alfonso Armada was released July 1, 1990,
claiming he never did anything illegal. Tejero, being the last one left of the coup leaders in jail, was set free after 15 years
from the military prison in Alcalá de Henares on December 2, 1996. He now lives in Alahurín de la Torre
close to Malaga.
Later it was made known that the coup plans originated with Bosch. According to these plans, General Alfonso Armada was supposed to be
Prime Minister if the coup succeded.
Conspiracy theories
There are people who believe that King Juan Carlos plotted the coup to test the democratic system and increase his personal
support, as many politicians at the time disliked the constitutional monarchy.
Even when there is no hard evidence of the King's complicity in a plot, recent publications have cited a strong relationship
between the members of the Royal House (and et al) to the coup leadership. A series of phonecalls between the King and General
Armada (the night of the coup) are also the main arguments of a possible royal participation.
Another point that is of great controversy is the theory of a possible reunion between Armada and the King during the coup,
and the generalized idea between the rebels that the King was going to support their "national salvation" government. Updated
resources affirm that Juan Carlos I knew of the intentions to end the Suarez government, but that he didn't know the method, and
refused to use his power over the military to stop it.
External links
Books
- 23-F: El Golpe Que Nunca Existio by Amadeo Martinez Ingles, 2001 - ISBN 849544013X
- El negocio de la libertad by Jesús Cacho, 1999 - ISBN 8493048194
- El Golpe: Anatomía y Claves Del Asalto Al Congreso by Busquets, Julio, Miguel A. Aguilar, and Ignacio Puche, 1981
(written few days after the coup)
- Un rey de golpe a golpe by Patricia Sverlo, 2000 (limited and "restricted" distribution in Spain)
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