Barcelona“A sergeant woke me up and said: ‘Come with me.’ When I entered, I found that there were two more. And then they jumped on me. They were obviously drunk, as they almost always were. And they stripped me.” It is the testimony of film critic and presenter Àlex Gorina (Barcelona, 1952) in the documentary And faran a homewhich is broadcast this Tuesday at ten at night inside the space No fiction from TV3. Gorina served in the military between 1976 and 1977, during which time he was subjected to abuse and mistreatment. He was also forced to smuggle. “I refuse to believe that, in the entire history of the Spanish army, I have been the only person who has been raped,” says Gorina in the documentary.
And faran a home collects 10 witnesses who, 40 years after going through military service, recount to the camera all kinds of violence that has marked their lives: blows, screams, beatings, insults, torture and even rape by veteran soldiers, often under the influence of alcohol and with the consent of military commanders. The documentary is the result of an investigation by Mireia Prats and Joan Torrents that began with the case of the Company of Skiers and Climbers in Vielha, one of the scenes of violence between soldiers. The veterans of the Vall d’Aran barracks tortured the soldiers who had just arrived there in the face of commands that did nothing to stop the violence between equals.
But they are not the only ones. The report collects young people who did the mili in the Canary Islands, Melilla and the Valencian Country. In total, the program team has spoken to 25 men aged between 55 and 65 who confirm that the vexatious treatment and torture were structural and systemic. However, the vast majority do not recognize themselves as victims; many of them prefer to be called survivors.
