Capital punishment in Spain

Strangulation by garotte had been portrayed as a draconian act by the public after its last use in 1974, when Salvador Puig Antich was executed in Barcelona and Heinz Chez [es] in Tarragona.

In 1820 Ferdinand VII replaced all other methods with the garrote, which was used mainly since then, including for the liberal freedom fighter Mariana de Pineda Muñoz and the assassin of six-time Prime Minister of Spain Antonio Cánovas del Castillo.

According to a pamphlet published anonymously by Crown Prince Oscar Bernadotte, Spain was the most frequent executioner of the Western world in the early 1800s, followed by his native Sweden.

[5] The last five death sentences were carried out simultaneously in Madrid, Barcelona and Burgos on 27 September 1975, prompting Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme - amongst other harsh condemnations - to denounce the regime as "devilish murderers" the following day.

Sometimes it was not swiftly carried out, such as in the case of Andrés Ruiz Márquez (Coronel Montenegro),[7] a member of a Spanish National Liberation Front (FELN) commando who had set up a string of small bombs in Madrid.