Abhiroop Das
Helmed by Agustín Díaz Yanes, Netflix’s ‘She Walks in Darkness’ focuses on a Spanish Civil Guard named Amaia who enters the world of espionage when she chooses to go undercover in a foreign territory. All alone and surrounded by enemies, the slightest mistake could arouse suspicion and put an end to her life. As Amaia sinks deeper into the circles of violence and terror, she comes to question the very meaning of her role and, more importantly, her mission. To that end, this spy thriller gives the whole operation a life of its own with its many layers intersecting deeply with the target organization, which becomes the core of violence in the narrative and charts the course of Amaia’s life.
Operation Sanctuary is Likely a Composite Creation Based on Alleged Spanish Civil Guard Covert Operations
In ‘She Walks in Darkness,’ Operation Sanctuary is the name given to the largest covert operation conducted by the Spanish Civil Guard against the ETA. While there appear to be no real-life covert plans by that name in real life, especially concerning the Basque National Liberation Movement, it is possible that the operation is a fictionalized rendition of real-life undercover missions. Though the publicly available accounts on the dismantling of ETA point to the collaborative efforts of the Spanish Civil Guard and the French Police as the deciding factor in the equation, the movie fills in the gaps in intelligence within the narrative. Notably, the arrests of real-life heads of ETA, Juan Antonio Olarra Guribi and his partner, as well as Asier Oyarzabal Txapartegui, have been dramatized, and the idea of an infiltrator disrupting their ranks is likely added by the writer Agustín Díaz Yanes for the larger narrative.
At the start of the movie, an information card suggests that several covert operations were undertaken to counter ETA, and that this story might be one of them. The phrasing is significant here, as it allows the creators to have a greater degree of creative freedom while depicting the story based on real-life accounts. Although there have been some well-known operations surrounding ETA in the past, such as Operation Udazken, which arrested 13 people linked to the Gestoras Pro Aminstia movement, none have sustained themselves for a decade and delved into the nitty-gritty of ETA to the extent that Operation Sanctuary is depicted in the movie. As such, it is possible that the movie’s plot is a composite of the many operations undertaken by the Spanish Civil Guard, dramatized to fit the narrative. The covert nature of these missions allows the narrative to freely explore its range while maintaining an air of believability.
ETA Was a Real Terrorist Organization That Demanded a Separate Basque State
While Operation Sanctuary might not be the name of a real covert operation, its target, ETA, is very much a terrorist group rooted in reality. The name stands for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, which loosely translates to Basque Homeland and Liberty, and between 1959 and 2018, ETA led the Basque National Liberation Movement using violence and often terrorism as a part of its modus operandi. The group’s primary goal was the creation of a separate, independent Basque state, and its operations were found at the root of the beginning of the Franco regime in 1936. Alongside independence, the preservation of Basque culture and language also took priority for the movement, which led to its brief period of existence as a pacifist group. It has been reported that the ETA, as a terrorist group, engaged in political assassinations, bombings, and kidnappings of major figures, leading to an estimated 829 casualties, about 340 of which were civilians.
In December 2001, the European Union unanimously declared ETA a terrorist organization, with several countries outside of Europe doing the same. While ETA was politically active since 1959, the Spanish transition to democracy led to ideological rifts within the organization. As such, it split into two, creating ETA political-military and ETA military, respectively. What both sides had in common was a refusal to accept offers of amnesty, and the immense loss of life continued. Notably, while the organization had previously declared a ceasefire in 1998 and 2006, respectively, it wasn’t until 2011 that Eta announced a permanent and “internationally verifiable” ceasefire. In the following years, ETA’s campaign gradually reached its end, with a 2018 video in which they declared that all of the group’s infrastructure had been dismantled and that they no longer held any political positions, nor intended to promote any political initiatives.
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