The “La Chaparra” sect, protagonist of the latest Movistar Plus+ documentary series

In Zero Coma (Fremantle) produce for Movistar Plus+ 'La Chaparra', an original documentary series that tells the story of three generations of the same family trapped for 30 years under the control of “Tío Toni.”

Since last November 3, the Castellón Court has hosted one of the most high-profile macro trials in recent years: six people, five women and one man, who sit in the dock accused of illicit association and nine continuous crimes of sexual abuse against minors between 12 and 17 years old. The defendants were members of La Chaparra, a sect led by Antonio Garrigós Lucas, known as the “Uncle Toni”.

Directed by Elena Molina (co-director of Flowers for Antonio), La Chaparra, the new original series Movistar Plus+, delves into this history which came to light in 2022, after an extensive police operation that ended with the imprisonment of its leader, “Tío Toni” and who would be found dead in his cell just a few months later. The series, made up of three episodes, is executive produced by Marias Recarte, also the creator of the project, and Rosaura Romero (The Palmar de Troya y Palomares). In it, they meet direct testimonies of its protagonists, unpublished footage, interviews with experts and recreations to reconstruct the rise and fall of a leader “who pushed his followers to the limit.”

This is the synopsis of the project, which will arrive in 2026 to Movistar Plus+: "In 1998, several families decided to move to a farmhouse in the interior of Castellón with the intention of building an alternative lifestyle, in harmony with nature and guided by Antonio Garrigós Lucas, a supposed spiritual leader. That place was called La Chaparra, and its founder was baptized by everyone as "Uncle Toni". Toni was considered an envoy of divinity. Through the laying on of hands he protected people from evil spirits and cured them of ailments and illnesses. When he founded his own community, his followers considered him a “being of light”, an almost mystical figure to whom they owed absolute loyalty. La Chaparra immerses itself in the shocking story of three generations of the same family trapped for thirty years under the destructive sect of Tío Toni: rigid rules, punishments, isolation... and absolute control for years. But this wasn't the worst. In 2022, a major police raid puts an end to La Chaparra and “Tío Toni” is accused of being the leader of a “destructive sect, with crimes of abuse against minors and adults.”