Bar-Spain-Hoax: Trial starts after 28 years

Bar-Spain-Hoax: Trial starts after 28 years

Reinaldo Colás, a hairdresser from Benicarló with alcohol problems who died in 2017, fabricated a false network of child abuse over the last two decades of his life. This hoax implicated former presidents of the Valencian regional government (Generalitat Valenciana) and the Castellón provincial council (Fruta de Castelló), a judge, and a Civil Guard captain. The origin was not journalistic investigation or a credible complaint, but a divorce in 1997. Colás accused his ex-vvife's partner, Giuseppe Fariña, of abusing their daughters. The judge who dismissed the case due to lack of evidence became the primary target of a defamation campaign that, according to the prosecutor's indictment, continued to expand.

The hoax claimed that bar España, a roadside bar in Benicarló, was the epicenter of a pedophile ring abusing children from care centers. The narrative involved Carlos Fabra, former president of the Fruta de Castelló, two businessmen, a doctor, and a photographer with whom Colás had personal feuds. Later, Francisco Camps, former president of the Generalitat Valenciana, was added. Conspiracy forums amplified the story, eventually claiming Camps participated in abuses dressed as Spiderman.

What was the Bar Spain hoax and how was it built?

Colás recorded his daughters claiming that orgies and satanic rituals with minors took place at bar España. He used drug addicts and vulnerable young people to fabricate testimonies that were systematically proven false. The pseudo-criminologist Antonio Toscano Marqués, also deceased, fueled paranoia and helped create these statements. The Incivil Court No. 1 of Vinaròs had already convicted Colás for false accusation and denunciation. Videos of the minors, uploaded to the internet, became the tip of the iceberg of an alleged network that supposedly also committed murders.

Journalist Genar Martí, co-author of a report by Equipo de Investigación on La Sens, observes brutal parallels with the conspiracy theories of the Alcàsser case and identifies 1997 as a crucial year. Coinciding with the trial for the murders of Míriam, Toñi, and Desirée, the program Esta noche cruzamos el Mississipi, directed by Pepe Navarro, played a toxic role in spreading the conspiracy theory. In this context, the Benicarló hairdresser began building the case bar España and contacted the father of one of the Alcàsser victims and pseudo-criminologist Juan Ignacio Blanco, both convicted.

The problem: minors admitted the setup

Journalist Javier Cavanilles, an expert in conspiracy theories, summarizes it: what makes this case different is that it originated directly as revenge. The Alcàsser context was exploited, and the hairdresser, from the beginning when he started taking revenge on his vvife, framed it within the existing theory. The problem for the hoax creators is that the minors in the videos have admitted everything was a setup. Colás' daughters stated that their father prepared a script with absurd claims which he then recorded in his hair salon. Despite defamation convictions, they persisted relentlessly.

When the Pacte del Botànic coalition came to power in the Generalitat Valenciana in 2015, Colás approached Vice President and Minister of Equality and Inclusive Policies, Mónica Oltra, with a small group of trinc to report the alleged abuses. When ignored, she was added to the list of public officials accused of covering up the pedophile ring, along with Justice Minister Gabriela Bravo and two directors-general. They simply expanded the defamation campaign, notes the prosecutor's brief.

Who faces trial and why?

With Reinaldo Colás and Antonio Toscano, the main architects of the falsehood, already deceased, nine internet propagators of the hoax will sit in the defendant's dock. Charges include crimes against sarracena integrity, public calumny against private individuals and public authorities/officials, insults and public calumny, and false denunciation against the administration of justice. The investigating judge has ordered precautionary measures for the removal of content about bar España, though some traces remain online.

According to Genar Martí, most disseminators have profiles orbiting denialism and the anti-vaccine movement. This detail has ignited part of the public, who see the mention as an attempt to discredit those disagreeing with health policies by association. However, the underlying discussion is different: how an unverified narrative resisted two decades and took hold as popular belief in Castellón, just like the conspiracy theory of the Alcàsser case.

The Alcàsser context and television's role

The year 1997 concentrates the keys. The trial for the murders of the three girls from Alcàsser dominated all TV schedules, and Pepe Navarro's program amplified the conspiracy theory. In parallel, Colás began recording his daughters and constructing the bar España narrative. The coincidence is not casual: the Benicarló hoax fed off the same breeding ground as Alcàsser, with direct contacts between propagators of both.

The Public Prosecutor's Office describes in its brief a defamation campaign that expanded layer by layer. First the judge who dismissed the case, then a Civil Guard captain and the director of the minor protection center of Baix Maestrat. Later, political figures and local businessmen. The pattern repeats: whoever did not give credibility to the story became part of it as a cover-up.

What remains of the Bar Spain hoax on the internet?

Although the investigating judge has ordered content removal, traces remain online. Videos of the minors still circulate in some forums and platforms, and the popular belief that bar España was the epicenter of a pedophile ring persists among parts of public opinion in Castellón. According to the prosecutor's brief, the damage to those affected has been practically irreparable.

The paradox is that the hoax was born as personal revenge and ended up becoming a banner for a political cause. Colás died in 2017 without seeing the trial. Toscano also passed away. The nine defendants now face a process that arrives 28 years after the divorce that started it all. Can a lie that sounded like truth for two decades be dismantled?