The businessman from Reus, Emili Casals, then a UCD senator, had to assume the accidental presidency of the Senate that night. While his superiors were held by Tejero, Casals maintained key contacts with the Royal House and various international governments to ensure institutional continuity.
“"I loosened my weapon's strap to raise my hands if the GEO entered."
On the other hand, the former mayor of Tarragona, Pau Ricomà, found himself on the other side of the fence involuntarily. As a conscript soldier in the Brunete Armored Division, he was sent to Congress without knowing if he was there to support the coup or stop it, experiencing moments of great tension in the building's cafeteria.
Inside the chamber, the five deputies from the province, Joan Sabater, Antoni Faura, Andrés Limón, José Vidal, and Josep Solé Barberà, endured hours of armed surveillance. Witnesses recall the strict control of the coup plotters and the chaotic atmosphere in the legislative palace's service areas.
