Tejero

Tejero is a Spanish surname of likely occupational or topographic origin. It is derived from tejo, the yew tree, with the suffix -ero, a combination that historically signified a person associated with yew wood or who lived near yew trees. The name is most commonly found in Spain and among Spanish-speaking communities abroad, reflecting patterns of migration and settlement.

The most well-known bearer of the name is Antonio Tejero Molina, a Spanish Guardia Civil officer who led the attempted coup d'etat on February 23, 1981, known as 23-F. During the incident, a unit stormed the Congress of Deputies in Madrid in an effort to overturn Spain’s democratic transition. The coup failed, reinforcing Spain’s move toward parliamentary democracy. Tejero was subsequently arrested and imprisoned, and the event remains a landmark in modern Spanish political history. The surname Tejero thus carries historical associations with both its linguistic origins and a notable moment in the country’s late 20th-century politics.