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This article recounts the last execution in Spanish history – the deaths of two members of ETA and three members of the FRAP on September 27, 1975 – along with the political context, international reactions, and the long-term consequences that led to the complete abolition of the death penalty in Spain. The content is for educational and historical documentation purposes only, based on newspapers, legal records, and historical research. It does not aim to glorify violence or advocate for any political ideology.
Spain’s Last Executions: Five Firing Squads That Ended a Dictatorship
On September 27, 1975, in Spain, five men were led before firing squads. They were not fallen generals or deposed politicians; they were guerrilla fighters from the opposition, sentenced to death by military tribunals under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. Among them, two belonged to ETA (Basque Homeland and Liberty) – an armed organization seeking Basque independence – and three belonged to the Revolutionary Antifascist Patriotic Front (FRAP), a Marxist-Leninist anti-Franco group. Their crime: they had killed police officers and civil guards. But this execution was not merely a death sentence. It was the final punitive blow of a dying dictatorship, and it sparked a storm of protests both inside and outside Spain. Just two months later, Franco died, and Spain never executed anyone again. This article analyzes the historical context, the execution itself, the international response, and the lasting legacy of this event.
First, we must understand the political context of Spain in 1975: it was the last remaining dictatorship in Western Europe, internationally isolated and on the verge of monumental change.
Francisco Franco had been in power since 1939, after overthrowing the democratically elected Republican government during the brutal Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). During World War II, the Franco regime maintained friendly relations with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, leaving Spain isolated in the post-war period. Although the United States and its Western allies partially accepted Franco in the 1950s and 1960s due to Cold War anti-communist strategies, his regime was still widely regarded by many European nations as a relic of fascism. By 1975, Franco was 82 years old, in failing health, and his regime was faltering.
Opposition movements – from Basque nationalists, communists, anarchists, and socialists – were growing increasingly active. ETA, founded in 1959, had shifted from cultural to armed struggle in the mid-1960s, and FRAP, founded in 1973, was an armed anti-regime group. The Franco regime responded with brutal repression, including military tribunals and death sentences.
Second, during the summer of 1975, the Franco regime conducted a series of military trials, sentencing 11 people to death – five of whom were finally executed by firing squad on September 27.
The defendants were convicted of killing police officers and civil guards during armed clashes. From ETA, the two executed members were Juan Paredes Manot (known as “Txiki”) and Ángel Otaegui. They were convicted of participating in the killing of a police officer. From FRAP, the three executed members were José Humberto Baena, José Luis Sánchez Bravo, and Ramón García Sanz. They were convicted of killing a civil guard. The trials were widely criticized as unfair, with defendants denied adequate legal representation, and the sentences were considered excessively harsh compared to the crimes. In fact, many observers believed the Franco regime was trying to project strength in the dictator’s final months, to deter the growing opposition movements.
Third, the executions took place in the early morning of September 27, 1975, at two different locations: four were shot at the former Hoyo de Manzanares prison camp near Madrid, and one was shot in Barcelona. All five were blindfolded, and according to reports, they shouted pro-freedom slogans before they died.
Immediate and fierce reactions followed. Domestically, street protests erupted in several cities, especially in the Basque Country and Catalonia. Police cracked down, arresting hundreds. Internationally, the reaction was even stronger. Fifteen European countries recalled their ambassadors from Spain. Attacks on Spanish embassies occurred in several European capitals. Pope Paul VI publicly expressed “profound sorrow” and called for clemency. The United Nations and numerous international human rights organizations strongly condemned the executions. Even close allies of Franco, such as the United States, expressed “deep concern.” This was a devastating blow to the already fragile international reputation of the Franco regime.
Fourth, two months after the executions, on November 20, 1975, Francisco Franco died after a long illness. Spain entered a transition to democracy, and no further executions were carried out.
King Juan Carlos I ascended to the throne and began a process of political reform. The 1978 Spanish Constitution largely abolished the death penalty, except for limited cases in the military code and during wartime. In 1995, these final exceptions were abolished, making Spain a fully abolitionist state. In 2012, a commission of the Basque Government officially concluded that the processes used to convict the two executed Basques – Juan Paredes Manot and Ángel Otaegui – had violated their rights, and their families received compensation. This was a belated recognition that the deaths of 1975 were an injustice.
The execution of September 27, 1975, was not the largest or most brutal execution in Spanish history. But it holds a special symbolic significance: it was the final gunshot of a dictatorship that had lasted nearly four decades. Five men – guerrillas, political activists – died for the ideals they pursued, but their deaths also helped accelerate the collapse of the Franco regime. The fierce international reaction showed that Franco’s Spain no longer had a place in the modern world. And after 1975, Spain chose a different path: democracy, reconciliation, and the abolition of the death penalty. The story of the last executed men remains as a reminder of a dark period, but also as a testament to the power of political change and human rights. Today, Spain is a leader in Europe’s abolitionist movement, and the deaths of those five men in 1975 have become part of the historical memory of the struggle for freedom and justice.
Primary sources:
Reports from The New York Times, The Guardian, and Le Monde (September – October 1975).
Records of the Spanish military courts (Consejo de Guerra), 1975.
Report of the Basque Government Commission (2012) on the executions of Juan Paredes Manot and Ángel Otaegui.
The 1978 Spanish Constitution and the 1995 abolition law.
Historical studies on the Spanish Transition to democracy (Transición Española).
Amnesty International documents on the death penalty in Spain.