# The Invisible Guardian

**The Invisible Guardian** (Spanish: *El guardián invisible*) is a 2013 crime novel by the Spanish writer Dolores Redondo and a 2017 film adaptation of it, both set in the Baztán valley of Navarre, where police inspector Amaia Salazar investigates murders that locals link to the basajaun, a protective creature of Basque mythology. The novel is the first volume of the Baztán Trilogy, followed by *Legado en los huesos* and *Ofrenda a la tormenta*.<sup>[1](https://www.doloresredondo.com/faq/)</sup>

| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Novel | *El guardián invisible*, published in Spain in 2013; first of the Baztán Trilogy<sup>[2](https://thecwa.co.uk/past-winners/the-invisible-guardian/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[1](https://www.doloresredondo.com/faq/)</sup> |
| Sales and translation | More than one million copies sold in Spanish; translated into more than 30 languages<sup>[1](https://www.doloresredondo.com/faq/)</sup> |
| English edition | Translated by Isabelle Kaufeler; shortlisted for the CWA Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger 2015<sup>[2](https://thecwa.co.uk/past-winners/the-invisible-guardian/)</sup> |
| Film | Directed by Fernando González Molina; 129 minutes; released in Spain on 3 March 2017<sup>[3](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=6116)</sup> |
| Lead cast | Marta Etura as Amaia Salazar, with Elvira Mínguez, Francesc Orella, and Itziar Aizpuru<sup>[3](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=6116)</sup> |
| Spanish box office | €3,697,589.20 from 610,203 spectators<sup>[3](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=6116)</sup> |
| Streaming | Available on Netflix internationally as part one of the Baztan Trilogy<sup>[4](https://qr.netflix.com/us/title/80173176)</sup> |

## Spoilers

### Plot: The novel

**Plot.** Inspector Amaia Salazar, a Pamplona police officer trained with the FBI in the United States, is sent to investigate when the naked body of a teenage girl is found on the banks of the River Baztán and linked to a similar murder a month earlier.<sup>[6](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-invisible-guardian)</sup> The investigation takes her back to Elizondo, the rainy village where she was born and which she had hoped never to return to.<sup>[7](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/320269/en/index/)</sup> The murderer strangles young women, then meticulously positions their hands and hair before setting a txantxigorri, a regional specialty baked with pork lard, on each victim's torso.<sup>[8](https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-5011-0213-4)</sup> Torn between the rational, procedural side of her work and local myths and superstitions, Amaia must consider whether the murders are the work of a ritualistic killer or of the basajaun, a small, human-like creature believed by locals to live in the woods, while confronting a dark secret from her own childhood.<sup>[8](https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-5011-0213-4)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[7](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/320269/en/index/)</sup>

## The novel

Dolores Redondo (born in [San Sebastián](https://www.edgepedia.org/san-sebastian) in 1969) published *El guardián invisible* in Spain in 2013 through the publisher Destino, after a first novel, *Los privilegios del ángel* (2009).<sup>[2](https://thecwa.co.uk/past-winners/the-invisible-guardian/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[5](https://www.valledebaztan.com/dolores-redondo/)</sup> The book became an international bestseller, with rights sold in thirty languages, and the trilogy as a whole has sold more than a million copies in Spanish.<sup>[2](https://thecwa.co.uk/past-winners/the-invisible-guardian/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[1](https://www.doloresredondo.com/faq/)</sup> The English translation by Isabelle Kaufeler appeared from [HarperCollins](https://www.edgepedia.org/harpercollins) and was shortlisted for the Crime Writers' Association's Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger 2015.<sup>[2](https://thecwa.co.uk/past-winners/the-invisible-guardian/)</sup>

**Real-world roots.** Redondo has said the story was inspired by a ritual crime that occurred years earlier in a place near the Baztán, where the whole trilogy is set, and that the story is told from the consequences of remembering it.<sup>[1](https://www.doloresredondo.com/faq/)</sup> In interviews she has described the case as real and still open, involving a sect whose members she characterized as educated professionals, and said she revealed in fiction only what had appeared in the press.<sup>[9](https://www.heraldo.es/noticias/ocio-y-cultura/2015/02/06/dolores-redondo-ninguna-pelicula-es-la-novela-en-la-que-esta-basada-es-otra-cosa-381969.html)</sup> She has also given a personal reading of the title: it refers, she said, to the invisibility in which she found herself immersed for many years.<sup>[10](https://www.ondacero.es/programas/por-fin-no-es-lunes/podcast/entrevistas/dolores-redondo-titulo-guardian-invisible-hace-referencia-invisibilidad-que-inmersa-tantos-anos_202211266381fa130779b00001238607.html)</sup>

## The film adaptation

The film *El guardián invisible* (international title *The Invisible Guardian*) was directed by Fernando González Molina from a screenplay by Luiso Berdejo, based on Redondo's novel.<sup>[3](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=6116)</sup> It was produced by Atresmedia Cine and Nostromo Pictures in a Spain-Germany co-production with ZDF and ARTE, with music by Fernando Velázquez and cinematography by Flavio Martínez Labiano.<sup>[3](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=6116)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[11](https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film735574.html)</sup> Peter Nadermann, one of the producers, had been responsible for the screen versions of [Stieg Larsson](https://www.edgepedia.org/stieg-larsson)'s Millennium trilogy.<sup>[12](https://www.baztanesa.com/el-guardian-invisible/)</sup>

**Production.** Filming began on 28 March 2016 and ran for nine weeks between Navarre and Madrid, with Marta Etura in the lead role.<sup>[12](https://www.baztanesa.com/el-guardian-invisible/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[13](https://www.diariodenavarra.es/noticias/cultura-ocio/cultura/2026/01/15/niebla-misterio-guardian-invisible-traslado-pantalla-alma-baztan-705782-104.html)</sup> Much of the exterior work was shot in Elizondo, the capital of the Baztán valley, where the crew worked in cold, wind, rain, and mud; Etura appears in about 95 percent of the film's shots.<sup>[14](https://www.espinof.com/entrevistas/el-guardian-invisible-visitamos-el-rodaje-de-la-adaptacion-de-la-trilogia-de-baztan/amp)</sup> González Molina called the shoot difficult but said the weather gave the film the atmosphere it needed, and praised the landscape and character of Navarre.<sup>[15](https://www.deia.eus/cultura/2016/09/19/guardian-invisible-pivota-thriller-drama-5010002.html)</sup> Redondo reviewed the script so that the bridges to the two later installments would be understood, and said she saw the film as a different work from the novel: "No film is the novel it is based on. It is another thing."<sup>[9](https://www.heraldo.es/noticias/ocio-y-cultura/2015/02/06/dolores-redondo-ninguna-pelicula-es-la-novela-en-la-que-esta-basada-es-otra-cosa-381969.html)</sup>

**Release and reception.** The film opened in Spanish cinemas on 3 March 2017, running 129 minutes, and was rated in Spain as not recommended for viewers under sixteen.<sup>[3](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=6116)</sup> It earned €3,697,589.20 from 610,203 spectators in Spain, one of the more successful Spanish films of the first half of that year.<sup>[3](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=6116)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[16](https://www.lasexta.com/noticias/cultura/cual-orden-trilogia-baztan-peliculas-basadas-libros-dolores-redondo_2023073164c79db91f119100011738a7.html)</sup> [Box Office Mojo](https://www.edgepedia.org/box-office-mojo) records a worldwide gross of $3,955,278, all from its 3 March 2017 release in Spain.<sup>[17](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt4924942/)</sup> On IMDb the film holds a 6.4/10 rating from about 20,000 votes, while Rotten Tomatoes shows 20 percent on the Tomatometer from five critics and 53 percent from audiences.<sup>[18](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4924942/ratings/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[19](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_invisible_guardian_2017)</sup> Critics praised Etura's performance and the film's atmosphere and visual control; some found the story construction and character development weaker than the imagery.<sup>[19](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_invisible_guardian_2017)</sup> The film has had a long second life in streaming and is available internationally on Netflix.<sup>[4](https://qr.netflix.com/us/title/80173176)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[20](https://elpais.com/icon/2026-05-17/fernando-gonzalez-molina-no-podiamos-poner-a-un-actor-con-peluca-en-2026.html)</sup>

## The trilogy on screen and page

The two sequels, *Legado en los huesos* and *Ofrenda a la tormenta*, were filmed simultaneously over about 18 weeks, mostly in the Baztán valley, with filming ending in January 2019; they were released on 5 December 2019 and 3 April 2020 respectively.<sup>[21](https://www.diariodenavarra.es/noticias/cultura-ocio/cultura/2019/01/22/termina-rodaje-y-iii-parte-guardian-invisible-631291-1034.html)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[22](https://www.ecartelera.com/noticias/la-trilogia-del-baztan-termina-rodaje-secuelas-fecha-estreno-51891/)</sup> The film's popularity introduced the word basajaun, the "lord of the woods" of Basco-Navarrese mythology, into wider Spanish vocabulary.<sup>[16](https://www.lasexta.com/noticias/cultura/cual-orden-trilogia-baztan-peliculas-basadas-libros-dolores-redondo_2023073164c79db91f119100011738a7.html)</sup> Tourism followed the fiction: visitors to Elizondo long asked for the home of Aunt Engrasi, a character who does not exist, and a local bakery now sells the txantxigorri cake that features in the novel's murders.<sup>[23](https://www.20minutos.es/cinemania/noticias/ext-noche-lluvia-visitamos-el-rodaje-de-el-guardian-invisible-57883/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[12](https://www.baztanesa.com/el-guardian-invisible/)</sup> Redondo later returned to the character of Amaia Salazar in the standalone novel *La cara norte del corazón*, which can be read before or after the trilogy.<sup>[1](https://www.doloresredondo.com/faq/)</sup>

## References

1. [FAQ, Dolores Redondo official website](https://www.doloresredondo.com/faq/)
2. [The Invisible Guardian, Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger 2015, Crime Writers' Association](https://thecwa.co.uk/past-winners/the-invisible-guardian/)
3. [GUARDIÁN INVISIBLE, EL, ICAA film catalog, Ministry of Culture of Spain](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=6116)
4. [The Invisible Guardian, Netflix](https://qr.netflix.com/us/title/80173176)
5. [Dolores Redondo, Trilogía del Baztan, valledebaztan.com](https://www.valledebaztan.com/dolores-redondo/)
6. [The Invisible Guardian streaming, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-invisible-guardian)
7. [The Invisible Guardian, Cineuropa](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/320269/en/index/)
8. [The Invisible Guardian by Dolores Redondo, Publishers Weekly](https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-5011-0213-4)
9. [Dolores Redondo: "Ninguna película es la novela en la que está basada. Es otra cosa", Heraldo de Aragón](https://www.heraldo.es/noticias/ocio-y-cultura/2015/02/06/dolores-redondo-ninguna-pelicula-es-la-novela-en-la-que-esta-basada-es-otra-cosa-381969.html)
10. [Dolores Redondo on the title of 'El guardián invisible', Onda Cero](https://www.ondacero.es/programas/por-fin-no-es-lunes/podcast/entrevistas/dolores-redondo-titulo-guardian-invisible-hace-referencia-invisibilidad-que-inmersa-tantos-anos_202211266381fa130779b00001238607.html)
11. [The Invisible Guardian, FilmAffinity](https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film735574.html)
12. [El guardián invisible, Panificadora Baztanesa](https://www.baztanesa.com/el-guardian-invisible/)
13. [Entre niebla y misterio: 'El guardián invisible' trasladó a la pantalla el alma de Baztan, Diario de Navarra](https://www.diariodenavarra.es/noticias/cultura-ocio/cultura/2026/01/15/niebla-misterio-guardian-invisible-traslado-pantalla-alma-baztan-705782-104.html)
14. ['El guardián invisible', visitamos el rodaje de la adaptación de la Trilogía de Baztán, Espinof](https://www.espinof.com/entrevistas/el-guardian-invisible-visitamos-el-rodaje-de-la-adaptacion-de-la-trilogia-de-baztan/amp)
15. ['El guardián invisible' pivota entre "el thriller y el drama", Deia](https://www.deia.eus/cultura/2016/09/19/guardian-invisible-pivota-thriller-drama-5010002.html)
16. [Cuál es el orden de la trilogía del Baztán, laSexta](https://www.lasexta.com/noticias/cultura/cual-orden-trilogia-baztan-peliculas-basadas-libros-dolores-redondo_2023073164c79db91f119100011738a7.html)
17. [The Invisible Guardian, Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt4924942/)
18. [The Invisible Guardian ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4924942/ratings/)
19. [The Invisible Guardian, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_invisible_guardian_2017)
20. [Fernando González Molina interview, El País](https://elpais.com/icon/2026-05-17/fernando-gonzalez-molina-no-podiamos-poner-a-un-actor-con-peluca-en-2026.html)
21. [Termina el rodaje de la II y III parte de 'El Guardián Invisible', Diario de Navarra](https://www.diariodenavarra.es/noticias/cultura-ocio/cultura/2019/01/22/termina-rodaje-y-iii-parte-guardian-invisible-631291-1034.html)
22. [Termina el rodaje de las secuelas de 'El guardián invisible', eCartelera](https://www.ecartelera.com/noticias/la-trilogia-del-baztan-termina-rodaje-secuelas-fecha-estreno-51891/)
23. [Ext. Noche. Lluvia. Visitamos el rodaje de 'El guardián invisible', 20minutos](https://www.20minutos.es/cinemania/noticias/ext-noche-lluvia-visitamos-el-rodaje-de-el-guardian-invisible-57883/)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2015–2019 films › Thriller and mystery films › Titles F to N*

*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*

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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license