Altsasu (play)
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| Altsasu | |
|---|---|
 Ovation for the performers at the end of the performance of "Altsasu" at the Teatre de l'Ateneu de Tàrrega | |
| Written by | María Goiricelaya |
| Based on | Altsasu incident (2016) |
| Date premiered | October 28, 2021 |
| Original language | Basque, Spanish |
| Original run | Teatro Arriaga |
| Genre | Drama |
| Setting | Spain in 2016 |
Altsasu is a 2021 play written and directed by María Goiricelaya. The play criticizes the use of violence and denounces the judicial disproportion in the arrest and imprisonment of young people in relation to the Altsasu incident.[1]
Born from the Cicatrizar theatre project in order to "not open wounds, but heal them",[2] the play was performed in both Basque and Spanish.[3] It stars Nagore González, Egoitz Sánchez, Aitor Borobia and Ane Pikaza Ereño,[4] who simultaneously play the roles of local youth and police officers and, consequently, of the two parties in conflict.[2]
On the morning of 15 October 2016, a riot broke out at the Koxka bar in the Navarrese town of Altsasu. Several neighbours, two Spanish Civil Guard officers and their respective partners were involved in the fight. The confrontation resulted in the arrest of two neighbors and a sprained ankle for the lieutenant. Subsequently, and in less than 24 hours, the town became the focus of all media attention and the case became a matter of state. Meanwhile, the officers involved refuse to testify before the Policía Foral and prefer to do so before their colleagues from the Spanish Civil Guard.[4]
At the judicial level, the case took an unexpected turn when the Collective of Victims of Terrorism in the Basque Country (COVITE) reported the events to the Spanish National Court. This led to the categorization of the brawl as terrorism and the start of a police operation to arrest nine residents, seven of whom were sent to prison. At the oral hearing, which began on 16 April 2018, the public prosecutor requested sentences of between 12 and 62 years in prison for eight of them. The trial was highly anticipated throughout the state, as its outcome could constitute a new curtailment of freedoms as well as an even more extensive judicial interpretation of the crime of terrorism as a typical crime.[4]