LOS SANTOS INOCENTES

Los santos inocentes, by Miguel Delibes, is presented to us as a mirror in which to look at ourselves. As a society. As individuals. And like all mirrors, it reflects our past so that we can explain our present. The image it confronts us with is raw, beautiful, savage… but above all, profoundly human. Los santos inocentes is one of the great novels of the 20th century and its significance is magnified by the challenge of transforming it into a play.

Delibes creates a universe so solid and truthful that at times it seems to transcend its author. It is inhabited by extraordinary characters who emerge from a lucid and merciless look at the Spain of an era, which is also a look at the human being, at the world and, without doubt most importantly, at the Spain of today. Delibes in his novel does not show circumstances and characters that were and are no longer. On the contrary: he cautions that these circumstances and these characters have never gone, they are still there, albeit in other forms, awaiting the opportunity to return with renewed strength.

We have seen traces of an anomalous hero in Azarías, a silent warm heart in Régula, a look of dignity and hope in Nieves, the unpunished cruelty of Iván, who harms and wants to harm everything. Paco, with his steely resignation, is perhaps the character in Los santos inocentes that most concerns us. Paco el Bajo represents the question and each one of us is the answer.