“There is a professor at the Faculty of Letters of Vitoria-Gasteiz, in his career in Hispanic Philology, who persecutes students of all kinds, especially psychological.” This is the beginning of the first complaint filed in the Basque Country Denuncias account, on February 3. According to the complaint, the teacher, among other things, “is always approaching the students to grab them by the hands, to pass the hand through the waist and others. But the most worrying thing is that the student has the habit of calling the office and doing a full check, 'Are you a virgin? How do you have self-esteem?' With questions like that.” Since then and until February 9, four other complaints against the same teacher have been published on the Instagram account.

The third accusation is that of a male (all the accusations are written in Spanish, who writes in the masculine that he was a “student” of the accused teacher). “I personally went to this man’s office to ‘determine the subject of the lesson work,’ and he asked me if I had sex with a condom, if I have ever been abused, or what note I would put on my self-esteem. He made me hold his hand while reading a poem,” he says, among other things.

The fourth complaint on Instagram describes his first visit to the teacher’s office. “I went to do an academic consultation, but soon he redirected the conversation to personal issues (family relationships, couples, vital responsibilities...). He was very flattering, he told me that I was very smart and special. He read me a poem while he touched my hand.” The student continued to have contact with the teacher: “When I left or entered the office, I would ask for a kiss on my cheek or a hug. I accepted all this, but at one point it seemed to me that everything was out of place and I took the distance.” The former student understands what he lived through in a different way: “I think it’s very serious that a teacher constantly tries to approach his 19-20 year old students, wants to know things about his life, tries to make them vulnerable with him, does it in his office, always alone, seeks physical contact, asks for hugs, kisses, even on his cheeks, touches his waist...”

The fifth complaint explains a similar evolution, but with a more conflictive outcome. “The teacher who first admired him deeply,” he says, “eventually became the source of much distress.” “I went to his office many times, even after I finished my degree. He joined a time when I had a serious personal problem and gave everything for me. He would call me several times a week, tell me to go to his office over and over, ask me personal questions that often made me feel invaded, question my personal decisions... He came to invite me to spend a weekend at his house to help me,” says the former student. More and more “uncomfortable” because he felt that his “limits were not being respected”, he decided at one point to take a “distance”, but, according to the student, the teacher continued insisting on sending messages, “and with the last one he sent me, in which he called me ungrateful, the situation overflowed.” Then he blocked the teacher. “For a long time I have felt guilty, I have felt anxious when I visited the city where I live... but over time I have also seen that these behaviors were neither appropriate nor normal.”

In Instagram testimonies, therefore, several alleged behaviors of the teacher are repeated: asking students about their personal and sexual life, caressing and touching them, seeking the vulnerability of young people and showing a friendly attitude towards it, or seeking very close relationships, even outside the academic space.

“Everyone knows it”

Four of the five complaints suggest that the teacher’s behavior was widespread. The first one says that the persecution was done to the “students”. “I know several anecdotes that my classmates had with this man, including my own experience,” the second one. “Every time you talk to anyone who has studied at Carrera Vitoria, their name appears and they talk about all this”, third. “I know that more of my classmates had similar experiences, some of them left the office a little scared and didn’t come back anymore,” the fourth.

The preliminary complaint?

According to two students, someone or anyone else filed complaints and grievances against the teacher, but that didn’t change anything. “He’s had a complaint, everyone knows what he’s doing, he’s always got complaints and he’s still there,” the second complaint says. “A formal complaint was filed and everything went to nothing,” the third.

The UPV/EHU has confirmed to LAR that it has received several formal complaints and that it has activated the protocol against gender violence.

More testimonials from LUZ

LA LUZ speaks with three former students who have done Hispanic Philology and a fourth person who knows the case, apart from each one. The four have given the same name without the journalist’s mention: Juan de la Cruz Ramos. Four have given full credit to the allegations, and three have stated that it is known that at least one complaint against the professor was filed at the university a few years ago.

In the decades of 2010 and 2020, students who have spoken with De la Cruz LUZ have been teachers, almost ten years apart. They have preferred not to publish their personal experience, but they have given full credibility to their Instagram complaints and have given testimonies consistent with the behaviors described in it. One of them was sexually assaulted personally. Two of the three students state that they have heard that some students have filed a complaint against the teacher for several years.

LUZ has also spoken to a person who is not a student or teacher of Hispanic Philology but who knows the case. He claims that the case is “vox populi” in the faculty “many years ago” (the teacher started teaching at the Faculty of Arts in Vitoria-Gasteiz in 2002). He claims that the complaint against De la Cruz was filed by the students in 2019, but that there has been no significant change.

LUZ has tried to contact the accused teacher to refute the information or give him the opportunity to receive his words. On Monday morning, a message was sent to both his personal and work e-mail. At the moment, there has been no response.

If you want to give a complaint or testimony: salaketak@argia.eus