Declassified Files Confirm Coup Plotter's 1981 Refuge in Andorra

Declassified Spanish intelligence files released on Wednesday confirm that Civil Guard Captain Gil Sánchez-Valiente, identified as the "man with the briefcase" during the failed 23-F coup attempt, briefly took refuge in Andorra while evading capture in 1981.

The documents, declassified after 45 years and previously held by the CNI—successor to the Cesid intelligence service—outline Sánchez-Valiente's path after the coup collapsed on February 23. Intelligence placed him near Congress in Madrid on the morning of February 24. He then hid in Barcelona for roughly a month, where a fellow officer betrayed him by filing an informant report after he sought assistance. This forced him to cross into Andorra.

From there, Sánchez-Valiente made repeated entries and exits into Spanish territory to avoid arrest, according to his own account given in Rome on June 9, 1981. He claimed prior knowledge of the plot but arrived too late at Congress to lead 250 guards from an elite El Escorial unit, instead following on-site commanders. Doubting its chances, he had withdrawn his savings and secured Barcelona flight tickets beforehand. He always denied carrying compromising documents in the briefcase or suitcase spotted by a fellow plotter, or taking any to London.

His exile continued to Germany, then Argentina—where he contacted coup leader Lt. Col. Antonio Tejero to disavow a related Barcelona Central Bank raid that year—followed by Mexico, Italy, and eventually the United States. He supported himself with savings, proceeds from selling a property, and an inheritance.

Sánchez-Valiente returned to Spain in 1987, receiving a two-year prison term for desertion but no conviction tied to the coup itself, as prosecutors lacked proof of direct involvement.

The release, coinciding with Tejero's sudden death on Wednesday, highlights Andorra's fleeting role in the plotters' post-coup movements.