The Endless Trench 2019

In 1936, at the dawn of the Spanish Civil War, Higinio Antonio de la Torre, a newly married man who had openly criticized the Nationalist army and government, fears reprisal killings and goes into hiding with the quiet support of his wife Rosa Belén Cuesta. They shelter beneath the floor of their own home as Falangists scour the neighborhood, turning a peaceful house into a fragile refuge.

campeada (to run) marks the opening act of their ordeal, as Higinio and Rosa tread a delicate line between danger and survival, living with the constant pressure of being found while trying to maintain a sense of ordinary life.

In the next phase, Esconder (hiding), the couple faces a brutal test when their neighbor betrays them. The danger forces them to deepen their covert measures, ultimately moving a portion of their refuge into a trench dug under the kitchen, a makeshift tomb and shelter rolled into one.

Then comes Detención (temporary loss of freedom), when hope flickers that the Republicans might win the war. That belief becomes a fragile fantasy, a beacon that cannot fully illuminate their confined reality, as the world outside remains stubbornly out of reach.

As Peligro (danger) intensifies, Rosa is arrested, yet she refuses to betray the hiding place. The fear of exposure never dissipates, and every sound from the world above is a reminder of how precarious their survival is.

Encerrar (shut down) centers on the husband’s deepening isolation. The walls of their hiding spot close in, and the couple’s bond is measured not just in words but in the steady, almost ritualized finding ways to endure their confinement. Their life takes a new turn when Rosa becomes pregnant, and the origins of the unborn child become a murky question—perhaps theirs, perhaps the child of a policeman who harmed Rosa and was later killed, a detail that casts a stubborn shadow over the family’s story. During this period, two gay men come to stay in the house, and Higinio forms a wary, uneasy friendship with one of them, a bond that edges around the edges of his sealed world. (Lover)

The phase Apartado (separate) deepens the sense of separation from the outside world. Higinio observes life through curtains and hears muffled sounds, clinging to small glimpses of news on the radio and TV as the walls around him grow thicker with memory and fear. In Cambiar (changing) and the Franco-era sections, Higinio undergoes a quiet transformation, his perspective shifting as time gnaws away at his resolve.

With the birth of their son Jaime Emilio Palacios, Rosa presents the child to the neighbors as her nephew, a ruse that serves as a lifeline for the couple’s psyche and plan. This life-changing event stirs Higinio to question whether a life in hiding is truly sustainable, and Rosa reminds him that the family needs him.

As the years press on, family members question why he remains hidden when it seems no one is actively looking for him. The neighborhood becomes aware of the concealed life beneath the house, yet Higinio has grown accustomed to his own enclave, a microcosm of the larger world that has slowly disappeared from sight.

In Desenterrar (unearthing), a sense of safety begins to appear, or at least a possibility of emerging. When, in 1969, the Franco government announces an amnesty and pardons him for his political offenses, the outside world appears within reach, but leaving the trench remains a daunting prospect. After 33 years, the shelter has become part of his identity, a long-standing habit rather than a choice freely made.

The final chapter, Salir (getting out), arrives as Rosa threatens to leave him, recognizing that fear still binds him. At last, Higinio musters the courage to step out of the hole, joining others who have rejoined the surface after long years underground, ready to face life beyond the shelter and the memories it carries.