Last Spanish Executions: Franco's Terror Ends

The last executions in Spain took place on September 27, 1975, when five political prisoners were killed by firing squad at the edge of the Francoist regime. Three were members of ETA, the Basque separatist organization, and two belonged to the Revolutionary Antifascist and Patriotic Front, a Marxist-Leninist group. The prisoners had been convicted by military tribunals for their involvement in the killing of police officers and Civil Guard members. International outrage was immediate and overwhelming. Pope Paul VI personally appealed for clemency. Fifteen European governments recalled their ambassadors from Madrid. Protesters attacked Spanish embassies in Lisbon and several other capitals. Mexico's president called for Spain's expulsion from the United Nations. The executions, carried out despite worldwide pleas for mercy, became the last act of a dying dictatorship. Franco himself was gravely ill, kept alive by machines in a Madrid hospital. He died on November 20, less than two months later, ending thirty-six years of authoritarian rule that had begun with his victory in the Spanish Civil War. Prince Juan Carlos, Franco's designated successor, moved quickly to dismantle the regime from within, legalizing political parties, freeing political prisoners, and guiding Spain through a democratic transition that culminated in the 1978 constitution. The September executions crystallized European opposition to the Franco regime at precisely the moment when its survival depended on international acceptance. Spain joined the European Economic Community in 1986 and has been a constitutional democracy ever since. The five prisoners were granted posthumous pardons in 2021.