A milestone in Spanish democratic memory: Rodolfo Martín Villa is summoned to testify because of Teófilo del Valle’s murder
It is difficult to explain to someone who is unfamiliar with everything that happened during the Civil War, Franco’s regime and the transition to democracy what it means that, 50 years after the death of dictator Francisco Franco, one of those responsible for crimes during the transition in our country has been summoned to testify. This had only been achieved in Argentina, where the case known as Querella Argentina is still open. But it had never happened in Spain until 16 June 2025.
Rodolfo Martín Villa, former national head of the Spanish University Union, secretary general of the Trade Union Organisation, and civil governor of Barcelona during Franco’s regime, was called to testify as a suspect. He is accused, along with former police officer Daniel Aroca del Rey, of the murder of Teófilo del Valle at the hands of the Armed Police in 1976, the year in which Martín Villa was Minister of Trade Union Relations under the government of Carlos Arias Navarro.
Teófilo del Valle was a 20-year-old resident of Elda (Alicante). It was 24 February 1976, and Spain was experiencing a wave of social and trade union unrest following the death of Franco. He was taking part in a demonstration by the footwear sector when he was pursued by the Armed Police, known for brutally repressing such movements. He was shot six times in the back, making him the first fatality of the transition to democracy.
His brother, José Antonio del Valle, filed a lawsuit in 2024, accusing Martín Villa and Aroca del Rey of murder in conjunction with crimes against humanity. After the case was admitted for processing and proceedings were initiated, the judge in charge of the case, Yolanda Julia Candela, is now requesting statements from the two defendants as suspects.
Rodolfo Martín Villa was not only the person in charge of this event. The tragedy known as the Vitoria Events or the 3 March massacre, which occurred a week after Teófilo’s murder and under Martín Villa’s command, is also well known. This episode was preceded by a major workers’ mobilisation in Vitoria since January 1976, which ended in a general strike on 3 March, calling for a workers’ assembly in the church of San Francisco de Asís in Vitoria. There, the police brutally evicted the assembled workers, killing five of them with gunshots and injuring more than 150.
On a day like today, it is essential to highlight the importance of bringing those responsible for crimes committed under authoritarian regimes to justice and sentencing them. Thanks to the tireless work of memorialist associations and the passing of Law 20/2022 on Democratic Memory, significant progress is being made in Spain’s democratic memory.
Thanks to these advances, the State must continue to work to ensure that those responsible for human rights violations during the Civil War, the Franco regime, and the transition to democracy are effectively brought to justice and that the victims and their families have full access to justice.
A democracy such as the one we have in Spain will never be complete and solid until it addresses historical memory from a cross-cutting and democratic perspective, taking into account the victims and survivors, guaranteeing their reparation, prosecuting those responsible, and working to educate younger generations so that such tragic events are never repeated.
Although it is still too early to know the outcome of this call to testify, it is worth noting that the wall of silence is gradually crumbling, as was the case with Julio Pacheco’s testimony in 2023, making him the first victim of Franco’s repression to testify, even though the case was later dismissed.
With the indictment of Rodolfo Martín Villa, we have the opportunity to set a precedent in the history of our country in terms of democratic memory. Only with this type of measure will we be able to achieve justice, truth, reparation and guarantees of non-repetition in a comprehensive manner.
Nadia Gayoso, responsible of the democratic memory area at FIBGAR.
17 June 2025
