In the 19th century, the Francophile general Porlier spent time in the dungeons of San Antón before being hanged in the Campo de Leña, near the Plaza de España. Among others, Juana de Vega's father was held in the prison.

The castle's activity during the political repression after the Civil War is a matter that still needs investigating.

Melchor de Macanaz
Born on 31 January 1670 in Hellín, Melchor-Rafael de Macanaz y Montesinos was a well-known writer, a good example of the Spanish Enlightenment and a reformer, which landed him in all kinds of persecution. He played an important role in the court of Felipe V as Fiscal General for the Monarchy, and later with Fernando VI, under whom he rose to Plenipotenciary Minister in Spain. He died in his home town at the age of 91.

Alessandro Malaspina
Captain of the Italian ship that formed part of the first project to create an isthmus in Panama and promoter of the "Malaspina Expedition", which left Cadiz on 30 July 1789 and sailed to the Canary Islands, the South American coastline, the Río de la Plata, the Falkland Islands, the straits of Le Maire and the Pacific Coast. The adventure continued in the North Pacific, to the straits of Juan de Fuca, the Marshall Islands, the Marianas and the Philippines. After visiting New Zealand they reached Callao and returned to Cadiz in 1794, when Malaspina was named General. One year after this, the Prime Minister, Manuel Godoy, accused him of being a revolutionary and a conspirator, and sentenced him to ten years and one day in prison. He was exiled to Italy in 1803, and died in Pontremoli on 9 April 1810.

General Porlier
In 1815, General Porlier, leader of a movement against the absolutist government of Fernando VII, was hanged in what is today the Plaza de España. He had been imprisoned in the Castillo de San Antón, but had escaped after delcaring he was going to a spa in Arteixo, where he started the revolution. The tragic end came on 3 October with his public execution.