The work Operación Apolo, by journalist Sergi Moyano from Carcaixent, delves into the kidnapping of Luis Suñer, known as the "ice cream king," by ETA's political-military branch. This kidnapping, described as "strange," involved a man from Madrid and a Valencian who were a couple and established the hideout in a town in the Safor region.
Moyano's investigation, which frames the narrative between the microcosm of the kidnapping and the suffering of negotiations with ETA, brings back a historical event from over four decades ago. Suñer was held for 90 days in 1981 until he was released by the terrorist group on April 14. Today, Tuesday, April 13, 2026, marks 45 years since this event, and Moyano will participate in a conversation about the work with Artur Martínez, a member of La Fúmiga. The event, organized by the Alzira City Council, will take place at the Casa de la Cultura in Alzira starting at 7 PM.
“"For me, it was important to explain why a person from Madrid and a person from La Safor ended up involved with ETA. And to explain is not to justify, it is simply to tell, to help understand."
Moyano, born in Carcaixent in 2000, stumbled upon this story "by chance" after a friend told him she knew one of the involved ETA members. He managed to contact him, and the individual agreed to speak for the first time, offering an unprecedented testimony. This former ETA member, pseudonymously named Xavi in the book, experienced a "confession" or "catharsis" by recounting the "biggest secret of his life" during a six-hour conversation. Subsequently, Moyano cross-referenced the account with police statements and the case summary at the Audiencia Nacional.
The author maintained an "emotional distance" from the acts committed by ETA, considering political violence "an element of the past," to narrate a topic that "people experience with great passion." He highlighted the youth and detachment of the kidnappers from Euskadi or the Basque nationalist left, attributing it to the polarization of the era. Javi, the man from Madrid, moved to the Valencian Community and, with Nel·lo, formed a couple who decided to take up arms, contacting ETA political-military, the "less bloody" branch of the group.
On January 13, 1981, Xavi, Nel·lo, and five other hooded individuals entered the Avidesa factory in Alzira to kidnap Suñer, a businessman who appeared on a Ministry of Finance list as one of the largest taxpayers. Moyano describes Luis Suñer as "the Juan Roig of the 80s," an important figure and a "symbol for many people." After his release, Suñer appeared on his home's balcony to be cheered by the residents of Alzira.
The book recounts how Suñer developed a "kind of Stockholm syndrome" with his captors in the "commercial hideout" in Safor, even playing cards and toasting with whisky with them. The negotiation, handled by the family, was "clouded" by the 23F coup attempt, but ETA never considered assassinating the businessman. The two young kidnappers abandoned their weapons in a process of "self-dissolution," being "among the first ETA members to realize that violence has no place in a democracy."
