Educational purpose only. This post documents historical events related to capital punishment and aims to educate about historical procedures. We do not glorify violence or hate.
The Last Garrote Execution in History: The Fate of Salvador Puig Antich, 1974
For centuries, the garrote vil — an iron collar slowly tightened by a screw until it crushed the cervical vertebrae — had been Spain’s official method of capital punishment. By the 1970s, it was almost obsolete, yet the Franco regime chose to employ it one final time.
On March 2, 1974, in Barcelona’s Modelo prison, 25-year-old Catalan anarchist and anti-Franco militant Salvador Puig Antich became the last person in history to be executed by garrote.
This article examines the life of Salvador Puig Antich, the events leading to his trial, and the legacy of the last garrote execution.
1. The Man and the Movement
Salvador Puig Antich was born in Barcelona in 1948. He grew up in a family with strong republican and anti-fascist traditions. In 1971, he joined the Movimiento Ibérico de Liberación (MIL), a small armed group that carried out bank expropriations to finance workers’ struggles and publish libertarian literature .
The MIL operated clandestinely in Spain during the final years of Franco’s dictatorship, when political opposition was severely repressed.
2. The Incident and Arrest
On September 25, 1973, during a routine street check in Barcelona, a shoot-out occurred between MIL members and a police patrol . A young police officer, Francisco Anguas Barragán, aged 23, was fatally wounded . Salvador, although wounded himself by four bullets, was arrested at the scene .
3. The Trial
His trial in December 1973 by a military court lasted only a few hours . Despite serious doubts about who fired the fatal shot and clear evidence of torture during interrogation , he was sentenced to death .
International pleas for clemency — including personal appeals from the Pope, the West German Chancellor, and thousands of demonstrators across Europe — were ignored by General Franco .
4. The Execution
At 9:40 a.m. on March 2, 1974, Salvador was led to the prison yard. He remained calm, refused the last rites, and reportedly said: “I die innocent, but long live liberty.”
The executioner, acting under orders, carried out the sentence using the traditional garrote vil.
5. The Aftermath and Legacy
Spain abolished the garrote forever the following year, and the death penalty itself in 1978 with the new democratic constitution .
Salvador Puig Antich is remembered today as a symbol of resistance against dictatorship. His execution was one of the final acts of the Franco regime, which ended with the dictator’s death in 1975 and the transition to democracy.
His story serves as a reminder of the cost of political repression and the importance of safeguarding democratic freedoms.
Primary Sources:
Historical records of the trial of Salvador Puig Antich (1973)
Post-Franco constitutional reforms in Spain
Amnesty International reports on the execution
Historical studies on the opposition to Franco’s regime