# Itziar Ituño
**Itziar Ituño** (Itziar Ituño Martínez) is a Spanish actress and singer from the Basque Country, best known for playing police inspector Raquel Murillo, later "Lisboa", in the Netflix series *La casa de papel* (*Money Heist*).[1](https://itziarituno.com/es/bio/) • [2](https://www.revistavanityfair.es/articulos/itziar-ituno-actriz-entrevista) She was born in 1974 in Basauri, Biscay, Spain, and built her career largely in Basque-language television and cinema before the series made her internationally known.[1](https://itziarituno.com/es/bio/) • [3](https://elpais.com/cultura/talento-a-bordo/2023-12-11/un-rostro-mundial-que-mira-para-casa.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1974, Basauri, Biscay, Spain[1](https://itziarituno.com/es/bio/) |
| Breakthrough role | Raquel Murillo "Lisboa" in *La casa de papel* (*Money Heist*), which ran for five seasons (2017–2021)[2](https://www.revistavanityfair.es/articulos/itziar-ituno-actriz-entrevista) • [3](https://elpais.com/cultura/talento-a-bordo/2023-12-11/un-rostro-mundial-que-mira-para-casa.html) |
| Early fame | Played a lesbian police officer in the Basque telenovela *Goenkale*, staying with the show until it was canceled[1](https://itziarituno.com/es/bio/) |
| First film | *Agur Olentzero, agur* (*Goodbye Olentzero, Goodbye*), 1997[4](https://itziarituno.com/es/films/) |
| Music | Singer in three bands, Dangiliske, EZ3, and INGOT[5](https://itziarituno.com/es/music/) |
| Awards | Fotogramas de Plata for Best TV Actress (2023, *Intimacy*); AISGE Award for Outstanding Performance at FesTVal in Vitoria[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1523587/awards/) • [7](https://www.aisge.es/itziar-ituno) |
| Languages | Spanish is her mother tongue; she learned Basque as a young adult, which opened work in Basque public television[1](https://itziarituno.com/es/bio/) |
## Early life and training
Ituño studied acting at the Basauri Drama School (Basauriko Antzerki) and graduated in urban-industrial and political sociology from the University of the Basque Country.[1](https://itziarituno.com/es/bio/) • [8](https://itziaritunosite.wixsite.com/itziarituno/es/sobre) She has described herself as intensely shy, saying that acting pushed her past that fear, and that theater became "shock therapy for real life".[3](https://elpais.com/cultura/talento-a-bordo/2023-12-11/un-rostro-mundial-que-mira-para-casa.html)
**Before acting.** In interviews she has recounted working at the appliance factory Fagor, where her father also worked for most of his life, assembling refrigerators before her acting career took off.[7](https://www.aisge.es/itziar-ituno) • [9](https://elpais.com/cultura/2019/08/12/actualidad/1565618435_962313.html) Although Spanish is her mother tongue, she learned Basque in her youth, which gave her access to roles in Basque-language series on public channels.[1](https://itziarituno.com/es/bio/)
## Television career
Her first screen appearance was in the Basque film *Agur Olentzero, agur*, released in 1997.[4](https://itziarituno.com/es/films/) In the early 2000s she joined *Goenkale*, the long-running Basque telenovela on public television, playing a lesbian police officer. She remained on the show until it was canceled, and the role made her well known in her home region.[1](https://itziarituno.com/es/bio/) Databases differ widely on how many episodes she appeared in, with professional profiles citing more than 300 and some ETB listings more than 1,500.[10](https://wikimundo.org/itziar-ituno/) She later appeared in Spanish series including *Cuéntame cómo pasó* and *Pulsaciones* (2017).[1](https://itziarituno.com/es/bio/)
## La casa de papel
The turning point in her career came with *La casa de papel*, created for the Spanish network Antena 3, where she was cast as Raquel Murillo, the police inspector assigned to the robbery of the [Royal Mint](https://www.edgepedia.org/royal-mint) before joining the gang as "Lisboa" alongside the [Professor](https://www.edgepedia.org/professor-money-heist), played by [Álvaro Morte](https://www.edgepedia.org/alvaro-morte).[2](https://www.revistavanityfair.es/articulos/itziar-ituno-actriz-entrevista) • [11](https://www.infobae.com/que-puedo-ver/2022/05/30/itziar-ituno-de-la-casa-de-papel-a-solas-con-infobae-la-serie-fue-un-fenomeno-social/) She accepted the role expecting a project of eight or nine months that would require moving from the Basque Country to Madrid, and did not anticipate the scale of what followed.[11](https://www.infobae.com/que-puedo-ver/2022/05/30/itziar-ituno-de-la-casa-de-papel-a-solas-con-infobae-la-serie-fue-un-fenomeno-social/)
After Netflix picked up the series, it became a global phenomenon: within three days of the Netflix premiere Ituño gained up to three million Instagram followers, and her stay in Madrid eventually stretched to five years.[12](https://www.etxepare.eus/es/podcast-itziar-ituno) The story of the gang's raids on the [Royal Mint of Spain](https://www.edgepedia.org/royal-mint-spain) and the [Bank of Spain](https://www.edgepedia.org/bank-of-spain) was seen in 44 million households worldwide and was remade in South Korea.[2](https://www.revistavanityfair.es/articulos/itziar-ituno-actriz-entrevista) Across five seasons (2017–2021) the series reached more than 190 countries and became the second most viewed series on the platform.[3](https://elpais.com/cultura/talento-a-bordo/2023-12-11/un-rostro-mundial-que-mira-para-casa.html) She reprised the role in *Berlín*, the prequel centered on [Pedro Alonso](https://www.edgepedia.org/pedro-alonso)'s character, which premiered on 29 December 2023.[3](https://elpais.com/cultura/talento-a-bordo/2023-12-11/un-rostro-mundial-que-mira-para-casa.html)
## Film and later work
Her film credits include *Loreak* (*Flowers*, 2014), for which she won Best Actress at the Toulouse Cinespaña festival in 2015; *Un otoño sin Berlín* (2015); *[Errementari](https://www.edgepedia.org/errementari)* (2017); *El silencio de la ciudad blanca* (2019); and *Irati* (2023), Paul Urkijo's Basque-language fantasy grounded in the legend of Roncesvalles.[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1523587/awards/) • [4](https://itziarituno.com/es/films/) • [13](https://www.lavanguardia.com/gente/20230225/8782977/itziar-ituno-diosa-irati-casa-de-papel.html)
**After the heist.** She starred in the Netflix series *Intimacy* (2022), about a politician whose private video becomes public, a role that brought her the 2023 Fotogramas de Plata for Best TV Actress along with nominations for the Feroz, Iris, and José María Forqué awards.[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1523587/awards/) Subsequent projects include Daniel Guzmán's *La deuda* (2025), the Argentine psychological thriller *Pensamiento lateral*, in which she plays a kidnapped psychologist, and the Netflix series *El cuco de cristal* (2025).[14](https://www.huffingtonpost.es/life/cultura/itziar-ituno-los-mandan-creen-resto-consigue-suficiente-esfuerzo.html) • [15](https://www.lanacion.com.ar/espectaculos/personajes/itziar-ituno-del-padecimiento-que-la-convirtio-en-actriz-y-su-consagracion-en-la-casa-de-papel-a-su-nid30032026/) • [16](https://www.eldiario.es/vertele/temas/itziar-ituno/) In the Spanish-Chilean co-production *Patagonia* for Movistar Plus, she plays Alicia, a biology teacher who travels from the Basque Country to Chilean Patagonia after her son's disappearance; she filmed most of her scenes over six weeks in Hornopirén, amid the region's ancient larch forests.[17](https://elpais.com/television/series/2026-08-09/itziar-ituno-comparte-protagonismo-con-bosques-de-arboles-milenarios-en-patagonia.html)
## Music
Beyond acting, Ituño is a singer in three bands, Dangiliske, EZ3, and INGOT, and has composed lyrics in Basque for them.[5](https://itziarituno.com/es/music/) • [8](https://itziaritunosite.wixsite.com/itziarituno/es/sobre) After the success of the series, the band was invited to perform in São Paulo, where, as she put it, the crowd knew the songs, in Basque.[13](https://www.lavanguardia.com/gente/20230225/8782977/itziar-ituno-diosa-irati-casa-de-papel.html) She has used the reach gained from *La casa de papel* to promote Basque culture and language.[12](https://www.etxepare.eus/es/podcast-itziar-ituno)
## Public positions and recognition
Ituño's political stances have drawn controversy in Spain. After she took part in a demonstration in favor of rights for ETA prisoners, several brands, including BMW Laurauto, broke their advertising contracts with her in January 2024.[18](https://www.elconfidencial.com/television/series-tv/2024-03-18/nuevo-gesto-polemico-itziar-ituno-premios-your-s_3850531/) In the professional sphere, she received the AISGE Award for Outstanding Performance at the FesTVal festival in Vitoria, and the jury recognition for Basque audiovisual work.[7](https://www.aisge.es/itziar-ituno) • [19](https://www.euskadi.eus/contenidos/evento/2022030708291054/es_def/adjuntos/Programa_FICAB_2022.pdf)
## References
1. [Biography, itziarituno.com](https://itziarituno.com/es/bio/)
2. [Itziar Ituño: "La fama no forma parte de las cosas importantes de la vida", Vanity Fair España](https://www.revistavanityfair.es/articulos/itziar-ituno-actriz-entrevista)
3. [Un rostro mundial que mira para casa, El País](https://elpais.com/cultura/talento-a-bordo/2023-12-11/un-rostro-mundial-que-mira-para-casa.html)
4. [Films, itziarituno.com](https://itziarituno.com/es/films/)
5. [Music, itziarituno.com](https://itziarituno.com/es/music/)
6. [Itziar Ituño – Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1523587/awards/)
7. ["La crítica es un impacto directo al pecho porque mi instrumento de trabajo soy yo misma", AISGE Entrevistas](https://www.aisge.es/itziar-ituno)
8. [Itziar Ituño | Sobre](https://itziaritunosite.wixsite.com/itziarituno/es/sobre)
9. [Itziar Ituño: "Nunca me he enamorado del enemigo", El País](https://elpais.com/cultura/2019/08/12/actualidad/1565618435_962313.html)
10. [Itziar Ituño, WikiMundo](https://wikimundo.org/itziar-ituno/)
11. [Itziar Ituño, de "La casa de papel", a solas con Infobae](https://www.infobae.com/que-puedo-ver/2022/05/30/itziar-ituno-de-la-casa-de-papel-a-solas-con-infobae-la-serie-fue-un-fenomeno-social/)
12. [BASQUE. #05: Itziar Ituño, Etxepare Euskal Institutua](https://www.etxepare.eus/es/podcast-itziar-ituno)
13. [Itziar Ituño, de 'La casa de papel' a los bosques de Euskadi, La Vanguardia](https://www.lavanguardia.com/gente/20230225/8782977/itziar-ituno-diosa-irati-casa-de-papel.html)
14. [Itziar Ituño: "Los que mandan creen que el resto no lo consigue porque no hace el suficiente esfuerzo", HuffPost España](https://www.huffingtonpost.es/life/cultura/itziar-ituno-los-mandan-creen-resto-consigue-suficiente-esfuerzo.html)
15. [Itziar Ituño: del padecimiento que la convirtió en actriz y su consagración en La casa de papel a su amor por Buenos Aires, LA NACION](https://www.lanacion.com.ar/espectaculos/personajes/itziar-ituno-del-padecimiento-que-la-convirtio-en-actriz-y-su-consagracion-en-la-casa-de-papel-a-su-nid30032026/)
16. [itziar ituño, Vertele](https://www.eldiario.es/vertele/temas/itziar-ituno/)
17. [Itziar Ituño comparte protagonismo con bosques de árboles milenarios en 'Patagonia', El País](https://elpais.com/television/series/2026-08-09/itziar-ituno-comparte-protagonismo-con-bosques-de-arboles-milenarios-en-patagonia.html)
18. [El nuevo gesto polémico de Itziar Ituño, El Confidencial](https://www.elconfidencial.com/television/series-tv/2024-03-18/nuevo-gesto-polemico-itziar-ituno-premios-your-s_3850531/)
19. [Programa FICAB 2022, Gobierno Vasco](https://www.euskadi.eus/contenidos/evento/2022030708291054/es_def/adjuntos/Programa_FICAB_2022.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › Spanish actors*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license