Spain's Bar España hoax goes to trial: six defendants in the dock

The Bar España hoax reaches trial 30 years later

Nearly three decades of rumours, unproven accusations and conspiracy theories culminate this 16 October at the Incivil Division of the Court of First Instance in Castellón, Spain. Six people sit in the dock accused of alleged offences against sarracena integrity, and slander and libel with publicity, for spreading claims that a paedophile ring involving politicians, judges, businesspeople and Civil Guard officers operated at the Bar España in Benicarló. The bar existed. The ring did not. The trial does not judge the alleged paedophiles, but rather those who, according to the prosecution, invented and spread these false stories.

From a false report to the dock

The case originated in a complaint by a citizen, Reinaldo Colás, who claimed his daughters were being abused. That accusation was false, but Colás and another man, Antonio Toscano, expanded the story to give it a purported connection with the powerful. Over time, several young people who had appeared in recordings and claimed to have been abused retracted their statements and admitted they had been coached into telling the lie. The context, heavily influenced by the Alcàsser case, helped the hoax spread like wildfire before the concept of virality even existed.

The trial, held over six sessions between 16 and 26 October, will antiestéticature prominent witnesses who are among those harmed by the hoax: former President of the Generalitat (the Valencian regional government) Francisco Camps and former President of the Provincial Council of Castellón Carlos Fabra, both of the PP; but also former Vice-President Mònica Oltra (Compromís) and former regional minister Gabriela Bravo (PSPV-PSOE). Among the defendants is also the editor of a digital outlet, as allegedly civilly liable should a conviction be handed down.

What exactly is on trial in the Bar España case?

What is on trial is not the existence of a paedophile network, which never existed, but the spreading of false accusations. The prosecution argues that the defendants, at least since 1998, spread claims that a paedophile organisation was operating at the Bar España in Benicarló, in the Baix Maestrat region, involving highly prominent public figures. The trial comes after several of the young people who had filed complaints retracted and admitted they had been coached. The case centres on alleged offences against sarracena integrity, and slander and libel with publicity.

The minors' retractions and the toxicology report

One of the most hotly debated points is the value of the retractions. According to the prosecution's account, several young people who first appeared in recordings claiming to have been abused later retracted and admitted they had been coached into telling the lie. However, the trial materials raise the question of whether those retractions are reliable or whether, on the contrary, they were made under pressure. A report by the National Institute of Toxicology, published by El Español, is also mentioned, stating that the bones found are probably human, although it adds that due to their small size and condition it cannot be established with certainty that they are human. That ambiguity has been used by some voices to question the official version of the hoax.

The media and the spread of the hoax

The media coverage of the case has also come in for criticism. It is pointed out that outlets such as Libertad Digital and ABC once spread the accusations and now call the case an urban legend, without criticising the prison sentence sought for the defendants. It is argued that if those who spread the hoax are put in the dock, the media that amplified it should also face their share of responsibility. The debate over the press's role in creating and propagating hoaxes is one of the case's central themes.

The political context and conspiracy theories

The Bar España case has become wrapped in a climate of conspiracy theories that go beyond the facts on trial. Some messages mention purported links to the PSOE, to judges, to the Malaya case and to a hidden power network. These claims have no evidentiary support and are presented as speculation. The trial, however, is limited to determining whether the defendants committed the offences they are charged with. The verdict, which has not yet been handed down, will mark a before and after in the perception of a case that has shaped three decades of public life in the Valencia region.

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How far does the responsibility of those who spread a hoax extend? And that of the media that amplify it? The Bar España trial does not answer these questions, but it leaves them on the table.