A court in Elda has admitted the family’s complaint in which Teófilo del Valle, widely regarded as the first fatal victim of Spain’s Transition, is named against a police officer accused of shooting him in 1976, along with the officers who shielded the case and the political leaders involved, including former minister Rodolfo Martín Villa.
According to the State Coordinating Organization for Support to the Argentine Lawsuit, CEAQUA, the complaint targets the officer who fired six shots, including a shot to the back of the head, Daniel Aroca del Rey; Sergeant Laureano Ballesteros; Captain Carlos Holgado; Benito Sáez González de Elipe, who was civil governor of Alicante at the time and the highest police authority; and Rodolfo Martín Villa, the minister of Labour Relations in the government of Carlos Arias Navarro.
The court that admitted the case is Elda’s Court of First Instance and Instruction No. 1, in an order dated 11 October 2024, which initiates preliminary diligences and requests birth and death certificates of the defendants. The complaint was filed on 22 April by Teófilo’s brother José Antonio del Valle Pérez.
The family’s petition was prepared by ACIF, the association Acción contra la Impunidad del Franquismo en el País Valenciano, a member of CEAQUA, and the judge’s order can be challenged with a reform appeal within three days.
February 24, 1976
At 10 p.m. on February 24, 1976, Teófilo del Valle participated in a demonstration in Elda calling for improvements to the footwear sector’s wage agreement, a pillar of the city’s long shoemaking tradition. Stones were thrown at a Police Armada bus. Shortly afterwards, one officer, Daniel Aroca del Rey, pursued Teófilo and fired six shots, one hitting the ankle and another the back of the head.
A recent investigation by Manuel de Juan, a screenwriter and director of a documentary about Teófilo, reveals that the incident was not caused by an air ricochet as had been claimed for years, but by a presumed deliberate intent.
Irregularities in the trial
The documentary also reveals irregularities imposed during the military trial of the police officer, who served little time in prison. Among them was the exclusion of relatives from participating with a lawyer and even from attending the hearing.
On the day the complaint was announced, the attorney for the firm El Roglese Aràdia Ruiz explained that the person who fired remained alive, underscoring ongoing questions about accountability.
From ACIF it was stated that initiating a penal procedure to establish the judicial truth of the crime in which an armed police officer ended Teófilo del Valle’s life by firing six shots from behind is of great importance.
Achieving truth, justice and reparation for all those who suffered repression in the fight for freedom and against the dictatorship is essential to establish historical truth, strengthen the democratic system and prevent the repetition of these crimes.