Segovia prison break

[1] Numerous demonstrations in support of an amnesty for political prisoners had taken place, including a general strike in the Basque country in December 1974[1] and a protest on the day of the escape.

[2] Following Franco's death in October 1975, the new head of state, king Juan Carlos, signed a partial amnesty.

Despite this, over 600 political prisoners remained incarcerated throughout Spain, with a substantial number of them having connections to the armed Basque separatist group ETA.

[9] In total, 29 prisoners took part in the escape, 25 of these belonging to ETA, with the others members of leftist armed group FRAP.

[7] A camera had been smuggled into the prison for the previous attempt in order to photograph the participants, so that identity documents and false passports could be prepared.

[7] They concluded that the prison's drainage system would offer the best chance and began searching for the quickest way to reach it.

Tests on the prison's walls revealed a hollow space behind the toilets and preparations for the escape attempt began in October 1975.

Other prisoners assisted in the escape by making noise during the periods when the excavation of the tunnel was taking place.

After digging for two metres they found that they had entered the drainage tunnels below the prison and sawed through the bars to reach these.

[7] Deciding that the Portuguese border was too heavily policed, their plan was to escape to France, so they drove towards Pamplona.

[7] From there, the plan had been to cross the France–Spain border on foot, but thick fog resulted in them becoming disoriented and lost in the woodland and hilly terrain.

A massive manhunt commenced, with police and Civil Guards setting up roadblocks at strategic positions.

On Maundy Thursday, 15 April, they tied him up, gave him some money for his inconvenience and used his car to drive to Pamplona and crossed the border to France from there.