Madrid — A dramatic scene unfolded in Spain’s Congress of Deputies on Tuesday when a sitting judge on official exit stormed the parliamentary podium during a heated debate, drawing immediate comparisons to the 1981 coup attempt led by Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero. The incident, which occurred during a session focused on documenting book burnings under Franco’s regime, saw José María Sánchez García, a VOX party deputy since 2019, forcibly removed from the chamber before climbing onto the speaker’s desk and confronting the presiding officer.
According to verified reports from multiple Spanish news agencies and official congressional records, Sánchez García had been expelled earlier in the debate for disruptive conduct after shouting accusations during discussions about historical memory legislation. Witnesses described him lunging toward the presiding bench, where Socialist Party vice president Alfonso Rodríguez Gómez de Celis was temporarily presiding in place of Francina Armengol, the Congress president.
“The only thing I was thinking was where the blow would come from,” Rodríguez Gómez de Celis later admitted in a televised interview, recounting the moment Sánchez García stood face-to-face with him on the podium, fists clenched. His testimony, broadcast on Spain’s public broadcaster RTVE and corroborated by El País and EFE, confirmed the deputy made no physical contact but created a tense standoff that lasted approximately 45 seconds before parliamentary security intervened.
The episode evoked visceral memories of February 23, 1981, when Tejero burst into the Cortes with armed guards, firing shots into the air and attempting to seize control of Spain’s young democracy. While no weapons were involved in Tuesday’s incident, the imagery of a public official leaping onto the legislative furniture to challenge authority triggered immediate alarm among lawmakers across the spectrum.
Congressional security footage reviewed by investigators shows Sánchez García ascending the steps to the presiding desk after being escorted out of the main chamber by ushers. He paused briefly at the edge of the podium, gesturing emphatically toward Rodríguez Gómez de Celis, before being surrounded and gently guided back to his seat by two sergeants-at-arms. No injuries were reported, and the session resumed after a 10-minute suspension.
VOX party officials defended their deputy’s actions as a “spontaneous defense of democratic values against historical revisionism,” arguing that the debate unfairly condemned Franco-era cultural policies. Party leader Santiago Abascal later tweeted that Sánchez García had been “provoked into defending Spain’s unity” and accused the Socialist government of “weaponizing history to divide Spaniards.”
In contrast, leaders from PSOE, Unidas Podemos, and even conservative factions within the PP condemned the act as an unacceptable breach of parliamentary decorum. Meritxell Batet, former president of the Congress, called it “a grave affront to institutional integrity” in a statement to Cadena SER, emphasizing that no elected official — regardless of party — has the right to physically intimidate presiding officers.
Legal experts consulted by Reuters noted that while Sánchez García enjoys parliamentary immunity for statements made during sessions, his physical intrusion onto the podium could potentially violate Articles 552 and 553 of Spain’s Penal Code, which address assault on authority figures and disruption of public institutions. The Congress’s Bureau has referred the matter to its Committee on Immunities and Parliamentary Procedures for review.
The judge in question, identified through official judicial registries as José María Sánchez García, has been on administrative leave from his post at the Provincial Court of Cuenca since January 2023, following an internal investigation into alleged political bias in his rulings. The General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ) confirmed his status but declined to comment on whether the congressional incident would trigger further disciplinary proceedings.
Historical context adds weight to the sensitivity of the moment. The debate that sparked the confrontation centered on a proposed law to create a national inventory of books destroyed or censored during Franco’s dictatorship (1939–1975), a measure supported by left-wing parties as part of Spain’s ongoing democratic memory initiatives. Similar legislation in 2007 led to the removal of Francoist symbols from public spaces, a process that remains politically contentious.
Internationally, the incident drew brief attention from European parliamentary monitors, with the European Parliament’s Committee on Petitions noting it in their monthly democracy watchlist as “an incident requiring contextual observation” but not rising to the level of a formal alert. NATO and OSCE representatives declined to comment, citing the domestic nature of the affair.
As of Friday, Sánchez García has not issued a public statement beyond his party’s press release. His legal immunity shields him from immediate prosecution, but the Congress may pursue internal sanctions ranging from a formal reprimand to temporary suspension of speaking rights, depending on the committee’s findings. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for next Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. Local time (08:00 UTC) in the Congress’s disciplinary chamber.
The episode serves as a stark reminder of how Spain’s democratic institutions continue to grapple with the legacy of its authoritarian past — not through violence, but through the recurring tension between historical reckoning and political polarization. For now, the presiding officers have resumed their duties, and the debate over historical memory legislation proceeds, albeit under heightened security awareness.
Stay tuned to Archysport for updates on this developing story as Spain’s democratic processes navigate one of their most visible challenges in recent memory. Share your thoughts below — what does this moment imply for the future of civil discourse in European legislatures?
