The garotte (or garrotte)
was the standard civilian method of execution in Spain. It
was introduced in 1812/13, at the beginning of the reign of Ferdinand VII, to replace the crude form
of hanging previously used. At least 736 people, including 16 women, were
executed in Spain in the 19th century. It is not
clear how complete earlier records are and even modern ones are somewhat
Some 96 people, including two women, were garotted between 1900 and 1935 with a further 110 men and
three women being put to death in the post Civil War period. Executions also took place by shooting during
this period and Spain’s last executions were by firing squad. Shooting was more commonly handed down by
military tribunals, however, it is unclear why people were shot for civilian
murders. Most 20th century executions
were for murder or terrorist related crimes, although banditry remained a
capital crime, certainly into the 1950’s.
Sixty five men and two women were executed by garotte
between 1950 and 1974 in various parts of Spain, including one
man in Las Palmas on Grand Canaria. All of
these suffered either for murder, banditry or major acts of terrorism. Eleven men were executed by firing squad in
the same period.
Garotting appears to have developed from the early Chinese
form of execution known as the bow-string. The criminal was tied to an upright
post with two holes bored in it through which the ends of a cord from a long
bow were passed and pulled tight round the neck by the executioner until the
condemned strangled. In the Spanish version,
the prisoner was seated on top of a short post with his back to the main post
and a rope loop was placed round his neck and around the post. The executioner
twisted a stick inserted in the loop to tighten the rope and strangle the
As in most countries, a more humane method of execution was sought and various
improvements to the garotte were made.
The next form of garotte comprised a wooden stool on
which the prisoner sat with his back to the post (pictured). In some later instances
a strong wooden chair was used. The
condemned was strapped at the wrists, arms, waist and legs and the hinged iron
collar closed around their neck. A heavy screw operated by a handle or a
weighted lever connected to a spike or a small star shaped blade ran through
the post. When the screw/lever mechanism was operated, the blade entered the
criminal's neck and severed the spinal column, in an attempt to ensure that the
prisoner did not strangle to death.
In some versions, two brass collars were used. One collar was attached to the
lever whilst the other was fixed to the post. Both collars were hinged to admit
the prisoner's neck. When all preparations were complete, the executioner
operated the mechanism forcing one collar outwards whilst the other remained
stationary thus, if correctly adjusted, dislocating the prisoner's neck and
causing immediate unconsciousness followed by death. (As in modern hanging). Click here for a photo
of a 20th century garrotting in Cuba.
execution by garotting of a robber named Jose de Roxas in Mexico in the early
1800's was witnessed and described by journalist, Richard Ford, as follows: The
condemned man mounted the platform and was seated on a short post with his back
to a strong upright post. The executioner fastened the iron collar round his
neck. When all was ready, he took the lever in both hands and at the
pre-arranged signal, turned the lever so drawing the collar tight whilst his assistant
threw a black cloth over Roxas's face.
A convulsive pressure of the hands and a heaving of the chest were the only
visible signs of the passing of the robber's spirit. After a pause of a few
seconds, the executioner peeped behind the cloth and after giving another turn
to the screw, removed the cloth. The dead man was slightly convulsed,
the mouth open and the eyeballs were turned into their sockets.
This description is very similar to those of executions carried out by hanging
at the same period. In most cases, the
prisoner lost consciousness quite quickly and was dead after a few minutes. Garotting, even in its later forms, could never guarantee
an instant loss of consciousness and was never considered to be as quick or
humane as hanging.
woman to be garotted was Juana Rivero
in Madrid on the 3rd of November 1824 for robbery. Twenty seven year old Mariana Pineda became
the first woman to suffer for treason when she was executed on the 26th of May
1831 in Andalusia. Mariana had embroidered a flag with the words,
"Equality, Liberty, Law." The flag was burned in front of her while she was
being executed. It was reported that the spike of the garotte
pierced her neck and protruded through her mouth. Afterwards, as customary, her
body was taken away, stripped naked (the clothes went to charity), wrapped in a
bedsheet, and placed in a cheap pine coffin for
burial. Twenty eight year old Higinia Balaguer, a Spanish maid,
became the last woman to suffer public garrotting when she was executed on July
the 19th, 1890 at 4.00 a.m., for her part in a robbery murder. Her execution took place before several
thousand spectators at the “Field of the Guards” in Madrid. The actual garotte
was mounted on the platform of scaffold about five feet high, reached by seven
steps. Public execution ended in Spain with the
garrotting of Lluis Más and
three others, on the 4th of May
1897 in Barcelona. Silvestre Lluis
became the first to suffer in private when he was garotted
in Barcelona for a murder on the 15th of June 1897.
The last female garrotting took place on May
the 19th, 1959, that of 28 year old Pilar Prades Expósito Santamaria, who was executed in Valencia for the murder by
poisoning, of her employer, Doña Adela
Pascual Camps, on the
18th of May 1955. She was put to
death by Snr. A. López
Guerra. All three female post Civil War executions
were for poisoning, the other two being 23 year old María
Domínguez Martínez, who had
also poisoned her employer and was executed on the 23rd of May 1949 in Huelva and Teresa Gómez Rubio who suffered on the 16th of February 1954 in Valencia for three murders
committed in 1940/1.
Garotting was last used on the
2nd of March 1974, when two men were executed on the same day. Salvador
Puig Antich was put to
death in Barcelona, by A. López Guerra, for the shooting of a police officer during a
robbery the previous year and Heinz Chez suffered in Tarragona, at the hands of
J. Monero Renomo, for the
terrorist murder of a Civil Guard Lieutenant.
The garotte used for Antich’s
execution is now on display in the Fundación Camilo José Cela, in Iria Flavia.
I am told that the last Spanish executions (in 1975) could not use this method
because of a bureaucratic problem. At this time in Spain, there was only
one executioner, and the condemned were in three different cities, Madrid, Barcelona and Burgos. Thus they were
carried out by firing squad on the 27th of
September 1975 when five men were shot for terrorist related murders
(two female accomplices were reprieved).
Three of the men were shot in Madrid: they were 24
year old José Humberto Francisco Baena
Alonso, 27 year old Ramón García Sanz
and 21 year old José Luis Sánchez-Bravo Sollas, all of whom had murdered policemen in 1975. Twenty one year old Juan Paredes
Manotas was shot in Barcelona for a similar
crime, while 33 year old Angel Otaegui Echevarría was executed in Burgos. Capital
punishment was effectively abolished in 1978.
The garotte was used in Spanish colonies, e.g. Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Philippines. It also was the
official method for ordinary criminals in Portugal up to abolition
With special thanks to my friend Christian Schrepper for allowing me to publish the results of his
research into Spanish executions.
Click here for a unique
listing of Spanish executions since 1812.
Back to Contents page Listing of Spanish
executions from 1812.