En Cero Coma, in collaboration with Movistar Plus+, dives deep into one of Spain’s most disturbing true stories with La Chaparra — a powerful three-part documentary that uncovers the inner workings of a sect that controlled an entire family for three decades.
La Chaparra tells the story of three generations of the same family trapped for 30 years under the control of “Uncle Toni,” the leader of the sect accused of sexual abuse, whose high-profile trial is currently taking place with 53 witnesses, six defendants. Since November 3, the Audiencia de Castellón court has been hosting one of the most high profile trials of recent years: six people - five women and one man - are standing accused of belonging to a criminal organization and of nine continuous counts of sexual abuse against minors aged between 12 and 17.
The defendants were members of La Chaparra, a sect led by Antonio Garrigós Lucas, known as “Uncle Toni.” La Chaparra, the new Movistar Plus+ original series, delves into this chilling story that came to public light in 2022, following a major police operation that led to the imprisonment of its leader, “Uncle Toni,” who was found dead in his cell just a few months later.
In 1998, several families decided to move to a farmhouse in inland Castellón with the aim of building an alternative lifestyle - living in harmony with nature and guided by Antonio Garrigós Lucas, a self-proclaimed spiritual leader.
The place was called La Chaparra and its founder was soon known to everyone as “Uncle Toni.” Toni was regarded as a messenger of divinity. Through the laying on of hands, he claimed to protect people from evil spirits and heal them of ailments and diseases. When he founded his own community, his followers considered him a “being of ight,” an almost mystical figure to whom they owed absolute loyalty.
La Chaparra immerses viewers in the harrowing story of three generations of one family trapped for thirty years within Uncle Toni’s destructive sect: strict rules, punishments, isolation... and total control for years on end. But that wasn’t the worst of it. In 2022, a largescale police raid put an end to La Chaparra, and “Uncle Toni” was accused of leading a "destructive sect, committing abuses against both minors and adults.”
With the collaboration of the police and through firsthand testimonies from its victims, never-before-seen archival material, interviews with experts, and dramatic reenactments, this documentary reconstructs the rise and fall of a leader who pushed his followers to the limit.
Directed by Elena Molina (co-director of Flowers for Antonio), the three episodes of La Chaparra will premiere on Movistar Plus+ in 2026. La Chaparra is a Movistar Plus+ original documentary series produced in collaboration with En Cero Coma (Fremantle), with executive production by Marías Recarte - who also created the project - and Rosaura Romero (El Palmar de Troya and Palomares).
