Tejero dies as Spain declassifies 1981 coup documents
Antonio Tejero, the Guardia Civil officer who led the failed 1981 assault on Spain’s Congress, has died at 93 on the same day the government released 153 declassified documents about the coup. The files show intelligence figures were involved or aware, and some plotters sought to implicate King Juan Carlos, who refused to back the uprising and defended democracy in a televised address. Tejero, who had earlier been linked to a 1978 attempt, served a prison sentence before his release. The declassification aims to illuminate Spain’s transition and ongoing memory of the Franco era.