Lurauto, an official BMW car dealer, has canceled all advertising campaigns in which the actress Itziar Ituño, known for her role as Raquel Murillo, the police inspector who switches sides in the series La casa de papel, appeared because of her participation in a demonstration organized on January 13 in Bilbao Defending the application of penal policy to ETA prisoners in Basque prisons. “We are not affiliated with any political ideology and therefore regret that the image of BMV Lurauto has been associated with any ideological content, as we reaffirm our commitment to diversity, inclusion and respect for 100% of society,” he said. the trader wrote in his X account. This newspaper contacted the dealer, a company independent of BMW, and declined to provide further information.
Ituña took part in a march with tens of thousands of people, about 20,000 according to the municipal police, led by a banner with the motto Konponbiderako Giltzak (Key to the Solution), carried by, among others, Sare speakers and representatives of the Catalan Games, the actress herself, the former Athletic soccer player Endika Guarrotxena and the historic leader of the nationalist left José Luis Elkoro.
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It is not the first time that the Basque actress, born in Basauri (Bizkaia), has been criticized for advocating for the rights of these prisoners; she already did this in 2017 when she called for a regrouping of ETA prisoners in Euskadi. In 2017, not only she, but the entire La casa de papel team suffered an attempted boycott of the series when it was still broadcast on Antena 3 (it later moved to Netflix). Audiences responded to the episode with a 25.1% screen share and more than four million viewers, making it the top feature premiere of the season.
The campaign was prompted by Ituño's participation in a tribute to Arnaldo Otegi after she left prison in 2016. The actress had previously played a character inspired by the repentant (and murdered) terrorist Yoyes in Cuéntame.
This boycott attempt spread mainly on social networks and in some images in which Ituño called for the regrouping of ETA prisoners. The video was published in January 2017 by the Sare Herritarra Nafarroa association, which was founded at the end of 2016 with the aim of defending the rights of “Basque prisoners, exiles and deportees”.
Itziar Ituño, Rachel Lascar and Najwa Nimri, in the seventh episode of “Berlin”.CARLA OSET/NETFLIX
“I signed against the spread. This happens more or less often in the Basque Country,” explained Ituña in an interview with EL PAÍS. “It leaves you half touched. A bad drink. I don't know who decided to boycott the series, but you see how it went. “We're currently filming the fourth season and it strikes me that it's not over yet,” he said at the time.
Itziar Ituño gained fame with her role as a police inspector in “Money Heist,” which she recently reprized in the spin-off “Berlin.” Previously, he had worked at Fagor, preparing refrigerators, just as his father had done his entire life. His two disciplines, sociology, always made him aware, as he explained in an interview with EL PAÍS, that he was aware of reality and should not remain in the cloud of success.
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