• Newspaper library: Anatomy of a legal murder
  • History: The executions of Franco

«My father and I heard the shots with which they were shooting my brother. Then, as the gravedigger did not want to take over, we had to bury him. I hit a few shovels ... two policemen, a soldier and the priest helped me. It was the end of a shameful war council, without witnesses, with lawyers expelled and no proof of guilt. The clique around Franco wanted a lesson and it was their turn. They were sentenced beforehand ».

There were five.

The first was executed on a forest road in Barcelona.

To the second next to the wall of the Burgos prison.

To the third, fourth and fifth on a slope of a military shooting range in Madrid.

Firing squads composed of police officers and civil guards who had volunteered killed the five convicted on the morning of Saturday, September 27, 1975.

Now, almost half a century later, Fernando Baena , who heard the downloads a few hundred meters from that wall of earth, speaks for the first time for a media outlet. He is the brother of Xosé Humberto Baena , the last of the last shot of the Franco regime. The last executed in the History of Spain.

Tomorrow will be 44 years.

Just two months before his own death, the dictator left a blood will that four and a half decades later continues to frighten Human Rights and even the memory of some of those who were on the Franco side of this story. «My father was sorry. He received instructions from above because they were already sentenced. He told me that he was sorry for what he had to do. Ignacio Martín Amaro , son of Colonel Mariano Martín Benavides , the judge of one of the three war councils that issued the death sentences.

"Crazed repressive process"

The executions, that morning gunpowder that Luis Eduardo Aute sang in Al alba , were what journalist Alfredo Grimaldos defines in his book Franco's shadow in the Transition , as “the tragic outcome of a mad repressive process: mass arrests, torture, arbitrary adjudication of responsibilities, summary judgments without guarantee and, finally, five executions ».

Everything was cooked between August 22 and September 19, 1975 with an Anti-Terror Law Decree expressly drafted to endorse the executions and with several summary trials against 11 anti-Franco activists, some of them militants or supporters of ETA and the FRAP . Of those 11 death sentences, six were commuted to 30 years in jail.

But five ended up in the firing squad.

And this is his story.

Ángel Otaegui had been arrested in November 1974 accused of collaborating in the crime of the corporal of the Civil Guard Gregorio Posadas , on April 3 of that year. As Carlos Fonseca says in Tomorrow when they kill me , Otaegui alleged in the trial that he had identified the agent before the members of the ETA command but did not know they would kill him. The man whom the Police considered the author of the shots, José Antonio Garmendia , had been shot several times in the shooting with the agents and had permanent brain injuries. Grimaldos reveals in his book that the police went to interrogate Garmendia at the hospital and that, given the impossibility of speaking, they placed his fingerprint on a statement previously written by themselves that accused Otaegui. Some time later, the doctors invalidated the alleged confession, but the court sentenced Garmendia and Otaegui to death. However, lawyer Juan Mari Bandrés managed to convince the judges that "to prosecute a mentally handicapped person is a crime." But that case could not be left without a wall: Otaegui sentenced to death.

Juan Paredes Manot , Txiki , was arrested as the author of the death of the corporal of the Armed Police Ovid Diaz on June 6, 1975 during a crossfire in the bank robbery of Barcelona. Lawyers Marc Palmés and Magda Oranich asked for the annulment of the trial: Txiki measured 1.52 meters and no witness recognized anyone with such short stature; the bullet that killed the policeman was not determined from which gun at seven in the shooting; The defendant's statement was obtained under torture, and a decree drawn up after the facts was applied, that is, with retroactive effects. But in three hours everything was dismissed: Txiki sentenced to death.

We hear the shots. I had to bury my brother. It was a shameful judgment; were sentenced in advance

Fernando Baena, brother of the last shot

José Luis Sánchez Bravo and Ramón García Sanz were accused of providing information and killing, respectively, the Lieutenant of the Civil Guard Antonio Pose , on August 16, 1975. In 2001, lawyer Juan Aguirre told the documentary of EL MUNDO TV The last shot-Chronicle of a generation that both his companions and he received a copy of the summary only a few hours before the trial. «We did not know what crime they were accused of. We couldn't even talk to them ». On the first day of the War Council, Aguirre and all civil defenders were expelled from the courtroom. «We protested the irregularities and they violently took us out. They carried the guns in their hands and told us they were going to kill us. Military lawyers who did not know the cause, or the evidence, or the statements, or the proceedings took over the defense. Result: García Sanz and Sánchez Bravo sentenced to death.

"Wildly Tortured"

Flor Baena, before the wall of land where his brother was shot, in Hoyo de Manzanares (Madrid) .EL MUNDO TV

Xosé Humberto Baena was charged with the death of police officer Lucio Rodríguez , on July 14, 1975 in Madrid. According to the statements of other detainees such as Manuel Blanco Chivite , the letters of those who would later be shot and the investigation of Franco's shadow in the Transition , Baena, Sánchez Bravo and García Sanz were "savagely tortured" by Commissioner Roberto Conesa and the police Carlos Domínguez Sánchez and Juan Antonio Gómez Pacheco , Billy the Child . From Carabanchel prison, Baena narrated in a letter those tortures: «They threw me from one end of the wall to the other, hitting me with fists and batons (...) They beat me with a stick on the soles of my feet (.. .) They repeatedly hit my head against a metal cabinet. In one of the blows I pulled a tooth, although in the medical part there is only the word 'caries' ». His sister, Flor Baena , says that Xosé Humberto wasn't even in Madrid on the day of the attack. His brother, Fernando Baena , recalls that three witnesses to the crime said that the description of the murderer did not match that of Baena and that two other men declared that Xosé Humberto was in Portugal shortly before the murder of Madrid. "There were even passport visas." But the War Council did not admit any of the 194 evidence presented by the defense and signed a judgment filed: Baena sentenced to death.

The world went into convulsion. Twelve European countries called consultations to their ambassadors, thousands of protesters in France, Italy, Norway, Germany or Belgium demanded the stoppage of executions; the Spanish embassy in Lisbon was set on fire, the UN debated the expulsion from Spain, Pope Paul VI and progressive bishops like Alberto Iniesta or Narcis Jubany asked for mercy ... And even Nicolas Franco wrote to his brother: «Dear Paco, we are old. .. Do not sign. You are a good Christian, then you will regret it ».

Nothing stopped the dying old man, who on the eve of the executions ordered not to be woken up under any circumstances.

Franco, sleep killing.

The night of September 26, this Friday 44 years ago, is the story of the two Spain. While Franco slept and his acolytes invited death, the Democrats were a mess. Useless insomnia.

'I'll see you in hell'

In the Model jail in Barcelona, ​​Juan Paredes, Txiqui , asked for a book. It was titled I see you in hell . He spent the night with lawyers Palmés and Oranich in a prison nursery decorated with posters of Pluto and Tom and Jerry.

Ángel Otaegui was an only child and his mother could only see him 15 minutes in the prison of Burgos. He spent the night drinking brandy with some officials.

Ramón García Sanz had only one brother, but he was admitted to a hospital in Zaragoza. He spent the night alone.

Excerpt from the letter that Xosé Humberto Baena wrote to his parents from the Carabanchel jail hours before his execution. Family album

José Luis Sánchez Bravo got his girlfriend, Silvia Carretero , to visit him hours before he was shot. She was imprisoned in Yeserías , but her condition as a pregnant woman allowed her to see Sánchez Bravo. In the shadow of Franco in the Transition, she says that on the eve of the execution she was not allowed to see Sánchez Bravo without bars in between. You have not responded to calls from this newspaper.

Xosé Humberto Baena was not so lucky with his girlfriend, Maruxa . She was also in Yeserías, but not pregnant. And that served to the Regime to prohibit the visit to him. The woman appreciates the interest of this report "in the fight against oblivion", but has declined to participate in it.

On the eve of lead, Baena wrote a letter to her parents. «Dad, mom ... When they shoot me tomorrow I will ask that they not cover my eyes to see the death in front (...) Do you remember what I said at the trial? 'May my death be the last one dictated by a military tribunal' (...) ».

Xosé Humberto could see his father and brother for 15 minutes in the Carabanchel prison. It was already day 27. At dawn.

If I told you my love / that I fear at dawn ...

«We left Vigo as soon as we were notified and arrived in Madrid at 5.30 in the morning. My brother was resigned and very serene. We told him: 'You can't lie to us. You did it?' And he replied: 'No, I can't lie to you: I'm innocent' », rescues Fernando Baena. Your sister completes the memory. "My father told him: 'If you were guilty, at least it would take me the comfort of being killed for something.' And he replied: 'Well, I can't give you that comfort, Dad. I'm innocent'".

The shootings

The first shot was Txiqui . It was 8.30 hours. He was tied to a tripod placed on a mound next to the Collserola cemetery. Palmés and Oranich were with Txiqui's brother a few meters behind the platoon and could see his head. «The 10 platoon guards began firing one by one, as if with viciousness. As they shot, he was falling. Already on the floor we hear a murmur. I was still alive. A guard arrived, shot him in the temple and 'Txiqui' stood still. I approached him, saw the caps and, I don't know why, I took them. I saved 10 of them, gave half to his mother and three to a museum. In the little box where he had them there was a kind of nail, but in reality, it was the cap of the coup de grace, which was smaller. I still have two caps. The person in favor of the death penalty should attend one; The horror is not forgotten. Those processes violated Human Rights, but only that of 'Txiqui' has been declared void, thanks to a resolution of the Parliament of Catalonia. The others, no. You have to do it and remember all this so that it never happens again. He says it today, 44 years and an intact memory later, Magda Oranich.

They shot one by one, viciously. On the floor he was still alive, and a guard shot him in the temple. Those processes must be declared null and void

Magda Oranich, lawyer for 'Txiki'

The second shot was Ángel Otaegui. It was 8.40 am and they placed it next to the wall of the garden of the Burgos prison. There were no witnesses.

The other three were executed at the El Palancar shooting range, next to a rock called La Silla del Diablo , on military grounds of Hoyo de Manzanares , in Madrid.

The third shot of the day was Ramón García Sanz. It was 9.10 hours. The squad consisted of 10 police officers, a sergeant and a lieutenant.

The fourth shot was José Luis Sánchez Bravo. It was 9.30 hours. His sister Victoria heard the shots "and suddenly ran and crying down the road," journalist Ignacio Fontes wrote in a chronicle for Cambio 16 . "My brother was not a terrorist, he was a good and honest man," he proclaimed in a public tribute four years ago.

The fifth shot of that damn dance of the dead , the last of Franco and our history, was Xosé Humberto Baena. It was 10.05 hours. «We knew it was in Hoyo de Manzanares, precisely where my brother had made the military. We follow the trucks and get to where they left us. From there we hear the second and third downloads. When they finished, they let me recognize the body. My brother died instantly. I had no coup de grace ». Fernando Baena speaks little but deep. Many data, few words. «Commanders carried out orders. They had no more noses. Franco was out of combat and his surrounding clique knew what he was doing. But I don't forget that the platoon members signed up for volunteers. Then we saw civilian policemen with colored ties singing for Hoyo de Manzanares ».

The priest's nightmares

The three executions of Hoyo de Manzanares had a single civil witness: the priest of the town. The Civil Guard urgently removed him from his home at dawn on the 27th to attend the executions. His name was Alejandro Peñamedrano and he died in 2014. After all the shooting, relatives and lawyers of the victims saw him go down in horror from the shooting range. But he never wanted to talk. He only did it to the program The last shot-Chronicle of a generation : «In addition to the police and civil guards who participated in the pickets, there were others who arrived in buses to jolt executions. Many of them were drunk. I did not stop crying all the time and some approached me to threaten me not to applaud. When I went to give the extreme unction to one of the shot boys, I was still breathing. At that moment the lieutenant commanding the squad approached and gave him the coup de grace, without giving me time to separate myself from the fallen body. The blood splashed me. I have not stopped having nightmares any night of my life ».

In 2001, that ELMUNDO TV documentary managed to take Flor Baena to the place where her brother had been shot 26 years earlier. Today, 44 years later, she brings that death to life. «I felt a lot of peace. I wanted to know what my brother's last landscape was. I put myself on the wall, where I assumed he would be placed, to see what was the last thing he saw. And I felt peace ».

My father was sorry, the process left much to be desired. The high estates wanted a lesson

Ignacio Martín Amaro, son of the judge who issued the death penalty

His last thorn tore it shortly after, when he wanted to check if it was his brother who was really buried in the Vigo cemetery where the police took him on October 9, 1975. «They buried him quickly and running, almost without my father I would give him time to arrive. We had the doubt of whether until then they had stolen it. So a few years ago I asked the City Council for permission to recognize the body. And one morning we did it. I was embalmed, almost whole. I saw the bullets. His forehead was stained with dirt from the execution of the shooting. We buried him again and felt relief. It was him. And there it is, in our pantheon ».

The war council judge

The son of military judge Martín Benavides attends to EL MUNDO with honesty and does not avoid a question. «My father was very reserved and there was no talk about that at home. But I know he didn't participate in that process willingly, he had a terrible time. He gave all the facilities to Baena's family so that they could visit him in jail, and allowed the exit of the letter that Baena wrote on the eve, which impresses me a lot. "Ignacio Martín Amaro, who was senator of the PP and Citizen candidate for Orense in the last elections, speaks bluntly: "My father was present at the shooting because he had to attest to the deaths. I knew that process had left much to be desired. The military judges had instructions from high above and those young men were sentenced. The high estates wanted to give a lesson. And my father regretted everything he had to do ».

None of the families that have litigated these years to reopen the case or claim the nullity of that process has achieved anything in the judicial universe.

- Flor, has the wound closed?

- I feel sorry for the families of the police and the civil guards, because nobody deserves to die like that. But I think that democracy has a pending subject. The War Councils will go unpunished because those responsible will not be punished. Until the last one who participated in all this dies, they will not review that fright. They will wait for everyone to die.

The last five shot in Spain

From left to right

8.30 a.m. Juan Paredes, 'Txiki'. Montador, 21 years. He was 1.52 and no witness to the robbery where police officer Ovid Diaz was killed recognized him. Executed in Barcelona.

8.40 a.m. Angel Otaegui. Fisherman and worker, 33 years. Accused of collaborating in the crime of the civil guard Gregorio Posadas. Executed without witnesses in Burgos.

9.10 a.m. Ramón García Sanz. Welder. 27 years. Accused of killing Lieutenant Antonio Pose. His lawyer could not talk to him. Executed in Hoyo de Manzanares.

9.30 a.m. José Luis Sánchez Bravo. Physics student. Accused of collaborating in Pose's crime. His lawyer was expelled from the trial. Executed in Hole.

10.05 h. Xosé Humberto Baena. I studied philosophy. 24 years. Accused of killing police officer Lucio Rodríguez. The judge rejected 194 defense evidence. Executed in Hole.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Madrid
  • Civil Guard
  • Burgos
  • Barcelona
  • ETA
  • Saragossa
  • Italy
  • France
  • Spain
  • Citizens
  • Belgium
  • Germany
  • PP
  • Portugal
  • Un
  • Norway

Catalonia Torra 'ambassadors' spend 17,117 euros on opaque trips

New store Uniqlo will open its first store in Madrid on the 17th, two years after landing in Spain

Data Theft and theft soar 40% in Barcelona