Ultras. Pasión y Muerte

This series features testimonies

from ultras never heard before.

Their voices and experiences are real,

but actors have portrayed them,

to protect their privacy.

I considered myself an ultra every day.

My enemy was the system.

I wanted to fight it.

Things weren't resolved through discussion.

They were settled with fists.

The ultra phenomenon originated abroad,

and Spain adopted it.

and the big football teams copied it.

When you're young and your hot-headed,

you become radicalized.

Frederic Rouquier has always been a mysterious figure.

The feeling lingers that this guy

was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

An ultra group closely resembles a sect.

You always use football to get your message out.

The authentic skinhead, the original skinhead,

is first and foremost racist, neo-Nazi and fascist.

You take up the shield and go to war.

We still don't know who killed Jimmy, although we all saw it happen.

The elephant in the room is violence.

But that sometimes prevents us

from engaging in dialogue with these groups.

We spent many hours together and a brotherhood developed.

You have to accept everything.

The rhetoric, the violence. If you don't, you're out.

You belong to a group that you think is the strongest.

And if we fight with others, we will always win.

The group makes everything happen.

This is like a war. Either you kill, or you get killed.

There was a manhunt

and the possibility of a death existed.

Zabaleta's case has opened our eyes because this goes beyond the sports.

The phenomenon will always exist, even in its slightest form.

We need to find young people

who, like me, are a bit crazy and spend the whole game screaming.

I have nothing to hide. Since I haven't killed anyone.

I'm proud of having been in an ultra group

and not having made a mistake like that.

DIRECTED BY PEDRO GARCÍA CAMPOS

ULTRAS PASSION AND DEATH

CHAPTER 1 ONE OF OUR OWN

JANUARY 13th 1991 BARCELONA

On January 13, 1991,

a murder occurred in Barcelona after a game

between Espanyol and Sporting de Gijón.

Rouquier's attack occurred

shortly after the Espanyol-Sporting game ended.

The Rouquier case came to our attention

through a call we received,

as was standard protocol.

That call was forwarded to the Judicial Police,

a service we had on duty.

Two colleagues from the homicide squad

went to the scene.

Two young men had been assaulted, one of them had died,

and the other was hospitalized with serious stab wounds.

A group of young people had assaulted them

with punches, kicks and they were stabbed.

Rouquier still had French documentation,

and as a football fan, he was also a supporter of Espanyol

maybe he had some contact or a relationship

with a member of the Brigadas Blanquiazules.

We heard on the radio that he had been killed.

FORMER ULTRA

And I said, "No, that's impossible."

I met Frederic. He was a young man who had a job here.

We don't know where he came from.

but he came with us and came to football.

He was in an onboarding phase, so to speak.

And they killed him, and that was it.

Rouquier is quite enigmatic figure.

There's a lingering feeling

that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

There's been discussion about whether he was linked to the ultras.

or he had just met people there or because they had invited him.

But Rouquier has always been a very mysterious figure,

the first victim of organized violence in Spanish football.

First death in Spanish football linked to violent groups.

Police are investigating the stabbing of a French man.

Villar: "This could be the end of football."

JANUARY 13TH 1991

But Spain was facing many problems.

Recently, we experienced

an attempted coup d'état

with tanks in Valencia.

A time of upheaval, with countless paths.

A transition coming to an end.

This generation was seeking to construct

an identity distinct from that of their parents.

And a place where this can happen is in the ends of football stadiums.

Are comfortable going to football games lately?

No, I'm on edge because there are a lot of very violent people.

When discussing violence in football, it's often linked to the 1980s,

when society was more violent

and normalized fighting in football. It was extremely violent.

It was common to see people lose control

and throw a rock at the referee.

People jumped onto the field.

Many of the police officers dispatched

had served during the Franco regime.

So, they had short fuses.

This led to people watching fights and they ended up normalizing it.

The 1982 World Cup was a grand debut, especially for the English team,

which played their first game in the Basque Country.

That England-France, at San Mamés

would have an impact on the cities where they were.

Most of society was shocked.

"Who are those half-naked boys, who fight and disrespect authority?".

But many young people saw it as a symbol of freedom.

I came home, saw that and was impressed.

here was something we didn't know,

a completely new language. We were unaware of all this.

We started to hear about ultras and hooligans

and everyone was part of one movement or the other.

A generation began to emerge,

building on the foundations of lifelong fan clubs

which changed their names

and formed the first ultra groups as such,

although many initially continued to be called "fan clubs".

In fact, the word "ultra", as such,

began to be used in Spain primarily after 1982.

The hooligan phenomenon originated abroad

and somehow Spain adopted it,

leading the major football teams to copy it.

It was all about being violent.

Why? Because violence was officially in vogue.

We were in the midst of transition. Spain was a democracy

They disagreed with all these ideas because they were young.

Violence was somewhat their hallmark.

My goal at that time was to challenge a system I didn't understand.

I still don't understand it, but I wanted to fight it.

I knew that whatever banner I put up or whatever I did,

would be shown on Sunday night after the game recap.

Football was used as a weapon

because, nothing could beat it, as a showcase.

When democracy arrived,

Barça held its first democratic elections

which Josep Lluís Núñez won, somewhat unexpectedly.

And he led Barça because he wanted to be recognized by society.

In those victories, he employed somewhat unsavory tactics.

Los morenos. Barça fans chasing journalists.

Like the presence of "los morenos". A group of burly, violent men.

Los Morenos have a clear path.

They were Barça fans

and they were around, becoming a bit of a pressure group

to get some supporters to vote one way or another.

If someone started singing against Núñez,

those guys made sure they stopped.

From insults to threats, punches and stone-throwing.

Núñez realized that this group of people could be beneficial.

And in that context, more violent groups began to emerge.

In Barcelona, the most famous group would be Boixos Nois.

I joined Boixos Nois in 1983.

EX BOIXOS NOIS

We supported Barça and Catalonia.

It's a feeling that you have, deep, deep inside.

It can't be explained; you must experience it.

You have to be in the thick of it, willing to die for it.

Initially, relations with Núñez were not good.

We ended up acknowledging that he was the best president we ever had.

If we followed the board's instructions,

we had the crowd on our side.

Joan Gaspart always supported us.

Joan Gaspart is part of Boixos.

Joan Gaspart The fan who fulfilled his dream.

I've been a director at Barça for many years,

twenty-something years.

I couldn't stand the games.

I went out to take a walk.

That passion runs deep within me and I suffered

when I couldn't express it.

So, I thought, we need to find young people

who, like me, are a bit crazy

and will spend the whole game screaming.

They would give us tickets.

For example,

when I was going to Lisbon.

"How many of you are going?".

You went and they gave you the tickets.

We even had a bus company. When we needed

two or three buses to go to a certain place.

We handled it. They did the numbers, and that was it.

The early days of Boixos were complicated

because it brought together people who just wanted to cheer

with others who were more unruly, troublemakers looking for fights.

The club provided a room for them to store their flags and drums,

but unfortunately, things spiraled out of control.

But that was the philosophy: to try to organize these groups.

We'll cheer on our team, Barça. We'll be at the North Goal.

We'll try not to cause any trouble,

but if they come, they'll find us.

Espanyol is going to win and we'll kill all the Boixos Nois.

Sureda, you're a son of a bitch and I'm saying this on TV.

Long live Spain.

In Barcelona, the main rivalry is between Barça and Espanyol.