Mikel Zabalza's death and the search for justice

Mikel Zabalza Garate worked as a driver for the San Sebastian Municipal Trolley Service. His life changed on 26 November 1985 when the Spanish Civil Guard detained him during an anti-terrorist mission. Although his peers were eventually set free, Zabalza remained in custody for twenty days. When his mother arrived at the Intxaurrondo barracks to locate him, the guards told her to visit the lost and found if she had lost a son.

Official accounts first suggested that Zabalza jumped into the Bidasoa river to escape. His remains surfaced on 15 December in the exact location where the Red Cross had ended their search a day earlier. For years, the Spanish authorities maintained this story despite emerging accounts of a violent interrogation involving a bathtub and a plastic bag. It took thirty-five years for Spanish tribunals to officially determine that Zabalza died from torture inside the barracks rather than by jumping into the water.

We must continue to examine the fragments of evidence that challenge the original facade. A 1985 journalistic report once included a confession regarding a corpse in an elevator. Furthermore, a recording came to light in 2000 between the former colonel Juan Alberto Perote and the captain Pedro Gómez Nieto, in which they discuss a possible heart attack as a consequence of a plastic bag over his head while admitting they lost him during the interrogation. Today, a metal plaque stands at the site to honor Zabalza as a victim of police action and to mark the enduring pursuit of justice.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons