The last execution by garrote: Salvador Puig Antich

Summary

---

Witness History: "The Last Execution by Garrote—Salvador Puig Antich"

Host: Stefania Gotzer
Date: July 27, 2026
Duration: ~9 minutes
Theme: The episode tells the powerful story of Salvador Puig Antich, the last person executed by the garrote in Spain under Franco’s dictatorship, through the eyes of his sister, Carma Puig Antich. The episode explores family memory, political repression, and the execution’s impact on Spanish history.

---

Episode Overview

This episode transports listeners to Barcelona in March 1974, recounting the night before—and the morning of—Spain's final execution by garrote, a brutal method of capital punishment. Through first-hand recollection from Carma Puig Antich, Salvador’s sister, we experience the family's anguish, the context of Francoist repression, and Salvador’s symbolic role in the resistance against the dictatorship.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: Night Before Execution (00:04–02:03)

• Mood in the Prison: Salvador’s four sisters spend the night with him, anxiously hoping for a last-minute pardon and cherishing rare, physical contact allowed during the “final vigil.”
  • “It’s what they call the final vigil. It’s a night when, unlike during normal visiting hours, you can touch him. There are no bars between you.” — Carma Puig Antich, 01:40

2. Background: Franco’s Spain and the Puig Antich Family (02:03–03:53)

• Francoist Repression: The family’s history of resistance—parents were Republicans during the Civil War; father was imprisoned and sentenced to death (later pardoned).
  • “He wanted everyone to submit to his authority or they would be taken to jail or a police station where everyone was tortured.” — Carma, 02:11
• Silence at Home: Repression instilled fear, leading to silence within the family regarding politics.

3. Salvador’s Defiance and Activism (03:10–03:47)

• Resistance Begins Young: Salvador’s strong sense of justice established early.
  • “He heard a teacher call the boy a retard. He stood up and punched the teacher.” — Carma, 03:18
• Joining the Iberian Liberation Movement: Small anarchist collective robbing banks to distribute money to the poor.

4. Going Underground and Arrest (03:53–04:31)

• Behavioural Changes: Family notes his transformation after going underground.
  • “He came home to say goodbye with glasses that had no lenses and a suit. Instead of the jeans he always wore, he had gone underground.” — Carma, 03:53
• Arrest and Shooting: Family learns from a newspaper that Salvador was shot and hospitalized during his arrest.

5. Political Context and Legal Proceedings (05:04–06:03)

• Turbulent Backdrop: Shortly before Salvador’s trial, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco is assassinated by ETA, increasing regime paranoia.
• Death Penalty Decision: Despite Salvador’s no link to the ETA attack, many believed the regime wanted revenge.
  • “Many in Spain, including Salvador and his sisters, believed the regime wanted to revenge the assassination of President Luis Carrero Blanco and that Salvador would be the target.” — Host, 05:33

6. Final Hours: The Family’s Vigil and Despair (06:03–07:03)

• Waiting for Clemency: The family sits with Salvador for 11 hours, awaiting news.
  • “Every time we saw the lawyer, his face looked Worse than the time before. At 5am we knew it was bad.” — Carma, 06:32
• Learning the Sentence: Carma learns what “Dagger Road" (garrote) means; disbelief and refusal to accept the execution.

7. Execution by Garrote (07:03–08:06)

• Last Farewell: Sisters are forced to leave; Salvador faces execution alone.
  • “He walked in, saw the garrote and... he swore. He used a Spanish word with no real equivalent in English. Something you say when someone or life has played a dirty trick on you.” — Carma, 07:25
  • “It’s completely barbaric. In 1974, We couldn’t say goodbye or kiss or hug…No, we just said, ‘See you outside.’” — Carma, 07:42

8. Aftermath and Historical Impact (08:06–09:20)

• International Attention: The execution makes global headlines. A New York Times report highlights its rarity and political implications.
• End of an Era: The garrote is never used again; Franco dies one year later, ending his regime.
• Lingering Legacy: Carma shares poignant moments when people recognize her as Salvador’s sister decades later.
  • “When I say ‘Antich’, they remember. They grab my hand and say they’re so sorry. Or they give me a hug. It’s mind blowing.” — Carma, 08:58

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Final Vigil:
  “It’s what they call the final vigil. It’s a night when, unlike during normal visiting hours, you can touch him. There are no bars between you.” — Carma, 01:40
• On Francoist Spain:
  “He wanted everyone to submit to his authority or they would be taken to jail or a police station where everyone was tortured.” — Carma, 02:11
• On Learning Salvador’s Fate:
  “A prison officer asked me, do you know what Dagger Road is? And I said no. And he explained. My face must have been a picture. I didn’t say a word to Salvador. I refused to believe it was true.” — Carma, 06:43
• On the Execution:
  “He walked in, saw the garrote and he swore... Something you say when someone or life has played a dirty trick on you.” — Carma, 07:25
• On the Execution’s Legacy:
  “When I say ‘Antich’, they remember. They grab my hand and say they’re so sorry. Or they give me a hug. It’s mind blowing.” — Carma, 08:58

---

Important Timestamps

• 01:40 — Carma describes the emotional final vigil with Salvador.
• 03:18 — Story of Salvador defending a classmate against a teacher’s abuse.
• 05:33 — Host contextualizes regime paranoia after an assassination.
• 06:32 — The family’s tense wait for clemency.
• 07:25 — Carma recalls Salvador’s reaction to seeing the garrote.
• 08:10 — New York Times report on the executions’ political overtone.
• 08:58 — Carma reflects on her brother’s enduring legacy.

---

Summary

Through personal testimony and historical context, this episode powerfully reconstructs the last use of the garrote in Spain, showing Salvador Puig Antich’s symbolic resistance to Franco and the enduring pain and pride of his family. It’s a sobering reminder of the costs of dictatorship, and the human face of political repression.

---

Transcript

[A]

Hello, welcome to Witness History with me, Stefania Gotzer. Now, if this is one of your favorite podcasts already, you can skip ahead a little bit. But if you are listening for the very first time, welcome. I want to tell you a bit more about us. We look at a moment in history told by the people who were there. We use incredible archive and hear amazing stories. You can new nine minute episodes drop every weekday. So if that sounds like your thing, hit subscribe wherever you get your BBC podcasts and turn on your notifications so you never miss an episode. But for now, let's get to the story. I'm taking you back to the 1970s in Spain, when a grim execution device known as the garrote was used for the lost time. This is a story about a grim execution and includes strong language. It's 2 March 1974, and in Spain, the last execution by garrote is about to take place. The garrote was a feared instrument. It consisted of a metal collar tightened by a screw designed to kill by crushing the neck. Inside the prison in Barcelona, four young siblings are spending the night together. They sit, talk and look at old photographs. But mostly they wait. They wait for a pardon that could save Salvador Puchentik, the only brother among them, from being executed in the next few hours.

[B]

It's what they call the final vigil. It's a night when, unlike during normal visiting hours, you can touch him. There are no bars between you.

[A]

That's Carma Puchantique, one of Salvador's sisters. She's here to tell us how her brother became a symbol of resistance to Francisco Franco's regime.

[C]

The new ruler of Spain rides into

[D]

the city of his conquest. Behind him is Moors.

[C]

His army lines the route

[B]

Esque Analicimo Franco, Generalissimo. Franco became a dictator in 1939 when the Spanish Civil War ended. He wanted everyone to submit to his authority or they would be taken to jail or a police station where everyone was tortured. There were six of us. My eldest brother in the U.S. then came my sister Irma Salvador, my sister Monse. Me, and my younger sister Marsona. My parents were Republicans. They had opposed Franco in the war. My father was first in a concentration camp in France and then in a prison in Spain. He was also sentenced to death, but later pardoned. So in our house, we never discussed these things out of fear.

[A]

And although Salvador kept that silence at home, outside, he wasn't afraid to speak out.

[B]

Salvador hated injustice. He couldn't stand it. When he was at school, he used to tutor a Boy with learning disabilities. One day he heard a teacher call the boy a retard. He stood up and punched the teacher.

[A]

As he grew older, this defiant streak led him to join an anarchist group.

[B]

It was called the Iberian Liberation Movement. They robbed banks and then gave the stolen money to working class people.

[A]

It was a tiny, short lived group with no more than a dozen members.

[B]

He didn't want us to know, but

[A]

the family began to notice changes in his behavior.

[B]

We would never see him and when my mother died, he came home to say goodbye with glasses that had no lenses and a suit. Instead of the jeans he always wore, he had gone underground. He'd say, relax girls, it's going to be OK. He was 25.

[A]

We're now in September 1973, when karma and one of her sisters were passing a newsstand.

[B]

We saw his face in the newspaper and read there had been a shooting and that he was in hospital. He had been shot in the shoulder and the mouth, so he couldn't speak.

[A]

Salvador had been detained when he was meeting members of his group. The circumstances have never been clear, but he was accused of resisting the arrest. There was a struggle and shots, some of them injured. Salvador Adas killed a young police officer whose death was blamed on Salvador because Salvador's father was very ill. It was his four sisters, aged 12 to 27, who visited him in prison twice a week.

[B]

We thought he'd be locked in for a while, but the death penalty.

[C]

Spain was plunged into political turmoil following the assassination of the nation's second most important man, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, president of the government and General Franco's most trusted lieutenant. The 70 year old admiral was blown up by, it is believed, left wing terrorists who planted a bomb either under a drain cover or beneath the presidential car.

[A]

The attack had been carried out by the Basque separatist movement eta. Even though Salvador had no ties to this militant group, many in Spain, including Salvador and his sisters, believed the regime wanted to revenge the assassination of President Luis Carrero Blanco and that Salvador would be the target. A military court tried Salvador and handed him not one, but two death sentences.

[B]

Every Friday we had to tell the lawyer where we would be in case the ministers decided at their weekly meeting to carry out Salvador's sentence. He called us Friday 1st March 1974. We went to the prison without our younger sister because she was 12. They set four chairs and we sat with Salvador for 11 hours.

[A]

Salvador's lawyer spent the night in a frantic beat for clemency.

[B]

Every time we saw the lawyer, his face looked Worse than the time before. At 5am we knew it was bad,

[A]

but the worst news was to come.

[B]

My siblings went to the toilet and I came out to the corridor. A prison officer asked me, do you know what Dagger Road is? And I said no. And he explained my face must have been a picture. I didn't say a word to Salvador. I refused to believe it was true.

[A]

The sistas weren't allowed to stay for the execution. They were dismissed at 6am Three hours later, Salvador was taken to the mailroom where the executioner was waiting. The garrote hadn't been used in almost a decade, so, like everyone else, he was expecting a firing squad.

[B]

He walked in, saw the garrote and

[A]

he swore he used a Spanish word with no real equivalent in English. Something you say when someone or life has played a dirty trick on you.

[B]

We were stunned. The road, like in the Inquisition, it's completely barbaric. In 1974, We couldn't say goodbye or kiss or hug. We just couldn't admit we wouldn't see each other again. No, we just said, see you outside.

[A]

The news crossed the globe. Here's a New York Times report.

[E]

The execution of Putsch was the first with political overtones and the first by Garrotin since two anarchists were put to death in 1963. But as if to emphasize that politics had nothing to do with the case, the government this morning also executed a 33 year old stateless person named Hein Shea in the prison in Tarragona, south of Barcelona. Che shot a security guard for no apparent reason in a cafe near Tarragona in December 1972.

[A]

That was the last day the garrote was used. Only a year later, Franco died and his regime with him.

[C]

Franco Amorto.

[A]

Today, Salvador's death has become a symbol of the regime's cruelty and the resistance that was crushed beneath it.

[B]

People still remember when I go to a place like the bank, I try to only say my father's surname, Puch. But then they ask for my mother's. And when I say Antik, they remember. They grab my hand and say they're so sorry. Or they give me a hug. It's mind blowing.

[A]

That was Karma Poocentik, the sister of Salvador Puccantic, the lost person executed by Garrotin. She was speaking to me. Stefania Gotzer for Witness History from the BBC Ward Service. Please let your friends know about Witness History. And if you are interested in hearing more personal stories about General Franco's regime, we have plenty of episodes, including one about the day he died and one about a failed plot to kill him. Make sure you hit subscribe wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Thank you for listening. Bye.

[F]

From the brilliant and bizarre.

[D]

It was really surreal. It was a surreal kind of atmosphere there. You couldn't really see anybody.

[F]

To the shocking and unexpected.

[D]

I'm just wondering, what are we going to do now? This was really my worst fear. He found 100% horse meat that was labeled as beef.

[F]

Witness the stories that have shaped our world, told by the people who were there.

[B]

When he went to the factory, the poodle went in front of him.

[D]

So the workers only, oh, the boss is here. Many people had many things to lose by our victory. The future was not so bright.

[F]

Witness History.

[D]

We had a designer, he bought in a fully storyboarded idea about how the queen would arrive by jumping out of a helicopter. And we all said, that's brilliant, but it's never going to happen.

[F]

Witness [e-mail] witness history or wherever you get your podcasts.