Patria

Patria is a Spanish television miniseries produced by Alea Media for HBO Europe that adapts Fernando Aramburu's 2016 novel of the same name about the impact of ETA's violence on two Basque families. Created and written by Aitor Gabilondo, it premiered on HBO España on 27 September 2020 and ran for one season of eight episodes.^{1 • 2} It was the first original series created by HBO España.³

Development and production

HBO España acquired the rights to Aramburu's novel after its 2016 publication, and by mid-2018 Aitor Gabilondo was writing the adaptation alone while the project was still in development; Miguel Salvat, HBO España's head of fiction, described the care taken with what he called the platform's first series, saying the company was "not in the volume business".⁷ Production was confirmed as underway in October 2018, with shooting planned for early 2019.⁸ Gabilondo said he wanted to tell "a story of violence at ground level" and that he had found the book before it was published.⁹

Filming locations. When the town of Hernani refused to allow filming, the production scouted nearly 40 towns in the Basque Country looking for locations that would recreate the atmosphere of the 1980s and 1990s; the crucial scenes were shot mainly in Soraluze, a town of 4,000 inhabitants about 40 minutes from San Sebastián.¹⁰ Other filming took place in Gipuzkoan localities including San Sebastián, Elgoibar, and Zumaia, where the props team repainted period graffiti such as "Gora ETA" on walls as the story required.⁴

Delay caused by the pandemic. A promotional screening took place on 10 March 2020, days before Spain's coronavirus state of alarm was declared; HBO España canceled the planned premiere about ten days later because sound mixing and editing could not be completed under the restrictions, and the series finally premiered in September 2020.¹¹

Reception and controversy

The premiere drew broad critical and audience agreement, with El Mundo calling it "the most complete and accurate audiovisual portrait of ETA before, during, and after the years of lead".¹ Critics praised the casting, the acting of Elena Irureta and Ane Gabarain, and the fidelity of the adaptation, while some found it conventional or prone to melodrama, and noted that the novel's access to characters' inner thoughts is lost on screen, where only actions are visible.^{12 • 13}

The poster dispute. A promotional image showing Bittori in the rain beside her husband's body paired with an image of a naked, apparently tortured ETA prisoner drew heavy criticism for appearing to equate the suffering of victims and terrorists; Fernando Aramburu, who until then had spoken positively of the series, called the poster a "desacierto" (misstep) on his blog.¹¹ A radio commentator called the advertising campaign "indefensible and immoral".¹⁴

Themes and interpretation

An academic analysis in the journal Textes et contextes describes the series as offering a complex and balanced account of ETA terrorism in the Spanish Basque Country, presenting the violence as a civil war among Basques rather than, as the pro-independence left argues, a conflict between Basques and the Spanish and French states.¹⁵ The same study notes that the series centers the perspective of the victims while also partially humanizing the figure of the terrorist in the name of the possibility of forgiveness and collective reconciliation.¹⁵ GQ's review identified a class reading in the two families, with Bittori's family wealthier because her husband was a businessman, and highlighted the series' message about breaking the chain of hatred between generations, forgiving without forgetting.¹⁶

The series reached television after the novel had already become a publishing phenomenon that, according to one commentator, sparked a public and peaceful conversation in the Basque Country about the violence of those decades.^{4 • 17}

References

1. Patria, Alea Media
2. Patria, Serie TV, FormulaTV
3. Rodajes Series Comunidad de Madrid 2020, Film Madrid
4. 'Patria': del fenómeno editorial a la serie más esperada sobre ETA, EL PAÍS Semanal
5. Patria, HBO Max LA Press Room
6. Patria, Alea Media (English)
7. HBO España, sin prisa para fundar su primera serie Patria, eldiario.es
8. La producción de 'Patria' en HBO ya está en marcha, EL PAÍS
9. Aitor Gabilondo presenta Patria, Radio Euskadi
10. Clarín, en el pueblo vasco de "Patria": heridas abiertas, Clarín
11. El largo camino hacia el estreno de 'Patria', EL PAÍS
12. Crítica de Patria: la excelente adaptación de HBO, HobbyConsolas
13. 'Patria': una estupenda adaptación que peca de melodramática, Espinof
14. Patria, analizada por los expertos de Onda Cero
15. La série Patria : un lieu de mémoire pour le Pays basque ?, Textes et contextes
16. Patria, de HBO: crítica, GQ España
17. Tres formas de narrar la violencia, EL PAÍS México

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Drama and prestige series (individual series) › Family and relationship drama › Family and domestic drama › Family sagas and household dramas

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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