Military officer who led an armed assault on the Spanish parliament in an attempted coup in 1981
Lt Col Antonio Tejero, who has died aged 93, terrorised much of Spain on 23 February 1981 when he led an armed assault on the Spanish parliament, the Cortes, in Madrid.
At 6.23pm, some 250 civil guards burst into the semi-circular chamber of the lower house during the investiture of Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo as the new prime minister. For 18 hours the entire parliament was held hostage until a negotiated surrender the following morning; the Communist party leader Santiago Carrillo said he had expected to be shot.
Tejero’s bushy moustache, angry stare and traditional civil guard tricorne hat became iconic images of the failed coup, the attempted return to the fascist Spain of the Franco dictatorship of 1939-75.
Pistol in hand, Tejero strode to the rostrum shouting “¡Quieto todo el mundo!” (“No-one move!”). A few minutes later, with shots fired into the ceiling – since conserved to commemorate the defeat of the coup – he screamed the notorious phrase “¡Se sienten, coño!” (“Sit down, fuck it!”).
