Lucio Urtubia Jimenez was a Navarrese anarchist who carried out a campaign of bank robberies and forgeries during the 1960s and 1970s.
11 Facts About Lucio Urtubia
1.
2.
Lucio Urtubia became an anarchist while in exile in France, where he met Quico Sabate and carried out a number of bank robberies with him.
3.
Lucio Urtubia's father was a socialist and was imprisoned by the Francoist dictatorship after agitating for the autonomy of the Basque Country.
4.
Lucio Urtubia considered himself lucky to have been born into poverty, saying it made him naturally lacking in respect for the existing social order.
5.
From Sabate, Lucio Urtubia first learned of the tactics of direct action and expropriation as a form of opposition to private property.
6.
Lucio Urtubia began to forge fake passports, intended for refugees to escape from Francoist Spain and other repressive states.
7.
Boadella later compared him to Don Quixote, although he said Lucio Urtubia attacked "real giants" rather than windmills.
8.
In 1980, Lucio Urtubia was arrested with a suitcase full of forged traveller's cheques, but the bank continued to receive fake cheques even during his detention.
9.
At the age of 50, Lucio Urtubia left behind his illicit activities, but continued to dedicate himself to anarchist activism.
10.
Lucio Urtubia never regretted his criminal actions, describing bankers as "the real crooks".
11.
Lucio Urtubia emphasised that he never carried out robberies or forgeries for personal gain, and that he always did so to accelerate revolution.