Three witnesses at the Castellón trial said their abuse claims were false and made under pressure. Investigators trace the hoax to a hairdresser who allegedly made children memorise scripts in 1997.
Investigators trace the Bar España hoax to a hairdresser who allegedly made children memorise scripts in 1997. On Thursday, three witnesses at the trial in Castellón said their claims of sexual abuse were false and that they had spoken under pressure.
Investigators identify the late Reinaldo Colás as the alleged instigator. They say he pressured the children to repeat fabricated accounts in the back room of his hairdressing business, then had them recorded on video. Investigators say he acted out of resentment towards his former wife after she began a new relationship.
One witness said Colás dictated what to say and the children wrote it down. His brother said they were threatened with losing contact with their siblings unless they presented themselves as victims. A cousin also told the court she had been threatened by a leading figure among those spreading the story.
The trial concerns six people accused of propagating the hoax. For three decades, hundreds of websites circulated claims of a paedophile network at the bar in Benicarló, a network investigators say did not exist. The story falsely implicated public figures in alleged crimes.
Former socialist Justice Councillor Gabriela Bravo told the court that the accusations had been deeply damaging to her personally and professionally. The false claims portrayed her as aware of crimes at the bar and as having concealed them. Bravo, a former juvenile prosecutor for eight years and former spokesperson for the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), is seeking compensation and the removal of the hoax from social media. The proceedings are separate from the alleged assaults involving minors in the Madrid teacher case.
A businessman who also testified said the hoax had ruined his life. He recalled claims that children had been abused and killed at the bar.
