Where is Ion Aranburu?

Continue in a coma. It's a little better than at first, but we don't know when it's going to come out of it. At first he was in an induced coma, but he's no longer induced, he's in a coma because of the effect of the wounds. Doctors tell us that we should gradually get out of this situation, but they do not know how long it may take. If we have hope, because we have been told it is not going to get worse, it is now in a stable situation, and that is a step. At first he had difficulties, had to open the skull to remove the pressure, had infections, etc.

How are family and friends?

We are all defeated because in the end it is something that has suddenly caught us. Ion is an honest and good guy, and something like that happens… Besides, I was with him, and although I hadn’t seen exactly what happened to him, then I saw him lying on the ground, and that was a hard blow to me. In the end, seeing a half-dead friend on earth… you feel helplessness, anger and everything. Now, seeing that he's a little better, we're quieter, but the first few days were really hard because he seemed to die. It's hard.

Did you and Ion go to Soria together?

Yes. Ion has a friend in Cornella, who worked with him for years in San Sebastian. However, her partner is from Cornella, where she lives now. When Cornella played Sanse in Zubieta about a month ago, he came with his friend and other friends to watch the match, and that day we organized a meal with them. As the last match of the Cornella League faced Numancia, at Soria, at that lunch we thought of Soria because we were not far away. When the measurement was close, I talked to Ion and told him that I was going with him to Soria, and we also went in my car.

We left Lasarte at 12:00, and our intention was to return the same day after the match, because Ion left the child with his wife. After eating in a town near Soria, we went to Soria to wait there for Catalan friends. When the Catalans arrived we got together on the outskirts of the stadium and one told us that he called him a acquaintance saying that the ultras of Zaragoza and Madrid were spinning from Soria. I thought they were joking, but the Catalan friend got a little nervous, and he called Cornella's chief of security, and he told him to call those in charge of Numancia to ask him, just in case, to allow them to enter the stadium until the match started to be in the stadium. Seeing that the friends were nervous, I thought it would be equally true that they were travelling ultras, and we decided to go to a bar that was nearby, because we were on the outskirts of the stadium and if we came to attack someone there was no room to hide.

Did the attack take place in that bar?

In that bar were people from Soria, but we were in a good atmosphere with them. In addition, on the bus of the friends of Cornella there were children, the elderly and very diverse people, and we all were in a good atmosphere in that bar, in jokes with Soria, etc. One day, around 18:00, a lot of people appeared on that street -- some say they got off a bus, but I didn't see a bus -- and they started coming to where we were, with stones and bottles in their hand, some with their faces and others uncovered.

They came from a corner about 20 meters from where we were, and so we walked inside the bar to protect ourselves. A stopper was created at the entrance to the bar and the attackers beat the people who were on the stopper and broke the bar crystals, with chairs, etc. I saw a man protecting a child with his body and another touching with a chair. In that confusion, I didn't know where Ion was, but at the end of the attack a girl began to say that a man who was out on earth was Ion. I went outside and saw a man kneeling on the ground, but I quickly realized that was not Ion, because that man had his head covered. And I saw that on the back of my head, I was wearing a tattoo from Leganés' Guetto 28 ultra group, so we know that those from Guetto 28 were there. Then some have said that there was also Ligallo from Zaragoza, but it is true that I had not seen Ligallo symbols.

I was told that Ion was on the other side of the street, I ran and there I saw that on the ground I was serving a national policeman dressed in street clothes. One of them began to say that Ion had fallen and I told him it was impossible, because it had too much hit to be due to a fall. At that time came another national police officer and told me that I had to be identified. When they were taken to the hospital they told me I couldn't go with them, but another policeman on the street helped me to my car just in case.

From there to the hospital.

I and two friends from Cornella went there. We were waiting for quite a while, and when the doctor came out, he told us he had a cranial fracture and another bone fracture around his ear. He also had three bruises on his head, so he told us he was very serious. Thus, they induced her coma and took her to the hospital in Burgos because they did not have enough resources at the hospital in Soria. So, I took my friends from Cornella back to the stadium, where I was again identified by the police, saying they wanted to look at if I had any unpaid cause. When I was identified, one of the cops said: “They are from Donostia, they are from the Impulse.” It is true that we are from the Impulse, but I clearly told him that the attack had nothing to do with football, that we were visiting some friends simply in Soria.

From there I went to the hospital in Burgos. The next day, Ion's wife called me and told me that she only put in the police lockdown that there was a slight injury. We handed a medical report to the National Police and the next day they called me asking if I saw how they touched Ion. I told them no, but I told them I had blows on the front and back of my head, and if you fall you're going to have blows in front or in the back, so that means they hit him. In the end, I was told that they have videos and that I will have to declare at the San Sebastian police station, because I can identify some aggressor.

How many aggressors were they?

Between 60 and 70. We have come to the conclusion that seeing the top of the bar I entered, he went to the bar on the other side of Ion Street trying to escape the attack. But the aggressors also entered that other side and ran over to Ion.

Was it an organized attack?

Yeah, sure. And that is that later we have had some pictures where you see that the Numantino Pride ultra organized a cowboy show with Guetto 28 and supposedly Ligallo. So something was organized. It was an organized attack on the Catalans and, incidentally, two were captured in San Sebastian.

During these weeks they have criticised the media and the police.

If it had happened here, the next day the whole operation would be mounted. And in this case, almost twenty days have passed, there is still no detainee, and we have not been called to testify – in addition to what we have talked on the phone with the police –. On the same day a person was arrested, but after a few hours he was released. We don't know what they're expecting.

As far as the media are concerned, the Sorian press stated that this was an intergovernmental battle, and that is false, it was a very well organised attack. We believe that the attack was organized by the Numantino Pride and that they were assisted by these other groups. And we don't understand how there could be a single Spanish police patrol, knowing that the Numantino Pride organized a cowboy show. In addition, it was the last match of the league, the two teams were in danger of losing category, one was Catalan and the other was Spanish… I think there were enough reasons to consider it as a high risk. I told the cops that, and they told me they're not just for football, they had to be in a cycling race as well. Great, a dying person and you tell me.

What will be your next step?

If there is judgment, it may be within two years. For now, the most important thing is for Ion to get out of a coma. He'll probably have some sequel, but we'll see.