MADRID — Antonio Tejero, the former Spanish lieutenant colonel whose audacious 1981 parliamentary seizure became the most dramatic challenge to Spain’s democratic transition, passed away Wednesday evening at age 93. His death in Alzira, eastern Spain, was confirmed by his family’s legal representatives at A. Cañizares Abogados, who noted he died peacefully surrounded by family after receiving last rites.
In a remarkable historical coincidence, Tejero’s demise occurred on the very day Spain’s government released previously classified documents pertaining to the February 23, 1981 coup attempt. The former military officer had led approximately 200 armed civil guards in storming the Spanish Congress of Deputies during a pivotal parliamentary session to install Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo as prime minister.
The attempted takeover, characterized by Tejero’s iconic patent leather tricorn hat and pistol-waving commands of “Everyone, freeze!”, represented the final serious effort to reverse Spain’s democratic evolution following General Francisco Franco’s 1975 death. Television cameras captured unforgettable scenes of officers firing weapons and lawmakers sheltering beneath parliamentary benches during the 18-hour siege.
The coup ultimately collapsed after King Juan Carlos I delivered a televised address denouncing the rebellion and urging military loyalty to Spain’s nascent constitution. Tejero subsequently served nearly 16 years of a 30-year sentence for military rebellion before dividing his later years between Málaga and Madrid.
Despite his incarceration, the imagery of Tejero’s parliamentary invasion remains indelibly etched in Spain’s collective consciousness, symbolizing both the fragility of young democracies and their ultimate resilience against authoritarian threats.