Juan Carlos Rivero uncovers family history of Spanish Civil War repression

In the premiere episode of the documentary series ‘¡Cuánta Guerra!’, broadcast on RTVE’s La 1, sports narrator Juan Carlos Rivero discovered the tragic history of his ancestors during the Spanish Civil War and the subsequent Franco dictatorship.

Rivero learned that his grandfather, Julián Nieto López, was a member of the Assault Guard who participated in the 1932 arrest of General José Sanjurjo and the siege of the Alcázar de Toledo. Following the war, Julián lived a discreet life as a trumpeter after facing accusations of Marxism and collaborationism.

More significantly, Rivero discovered that his great-uncle, Julio Nieto López, a telecommunications engineer and communist militant, faced severe repression. After being imprisoned in Valencia and exiled to Galicia, Julio was detained in A Coruña, sentenced to death, and executed by garrote vil on September 21, 1946. He was subsequently buried in a mass grave in the San Amaro cemetery.