El Lobo

El Lobo
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Miguel Courtois
Written by	Antonio Onetti
Starring	Eduardo Noriega José Coronado Mélanie Doutey
Release date	5 Nov 2004 (Spain)
Running time	134 minutes
Country	Spain
Language	Spanish

El Lobo redirects here. For the fictional tango dancer, see Melvin Frohike.

El lobo (English: The Wolf) is a 2004 Spanish drama biographical film directed by Miguel Courtois and starring Eduardo Noriega.

Lobo is based on the life of Mikel Lejarza, an agent of the Spanish intelligence service in the 1970s. During the last stages of Franco's dictatorship between 1973 and 1975, Lejarza infiltrated ETA, a paramilitary group seeking independence for the Basque Country, and was responsible for the downfall of one quarter of the terrorist activists of the organisation - including Special Forces members and some top-level figures of the group.

Lobo's operation destabilized the terrorist organization at a time when its actions were becoming a perfect validation for the most conservative arm of the Franco regime to take full powers and stop all democratic process in Spain.

The Lobo operation hindered the terrorists’ plans to escape from the prison where they were held and pursue a campaign of surprise attacks across the country.

Lobo was a man betrayed and ruined by the Spanish dictatorship's secret services, who although at first hiring him to help them stop the ETA, tried to get rid of him later on when he became less useful. This did not stop Lobo, and he kept on with his mission, which became the most successful ever held against ETA by the Spanish Government.

Because of his betrayal, ETA sentenced Lobo to death and covered the whole Basque country with search posters of Mikel Lejarza, hoping that their supporters would aid in the capture and destruction of 'the wolf.' As a result Mikel had to change his name and face and disappear without a trace. The memory of Lobo is so vivid to ETA that its members always carry around a bullet bearing his name to kill him if they ever meet or see him.