“See You in Another Life,” or “Nos vemos en otra Vida,” directed by Alberto and Jorge Sanchez-Cabezudo follows Gabriel Montoya Vidal (also known by his nickname Baby) as he unknowingly becomes embroiled in the 2004 M-11 Madrid bombings. Baby turns to small-time criminality to make ends meet while looking up to Emilio Trashorras (a retired miner with schizophrenia who serves as his mentor and role model).
Emilio offered Baby an easy way to earn money and asked her to deliver a box for hashish in exchange. While Baby accepted without questioning its contents, in actuality the parcel contained dynamite that would later be used in Spain’s largest terror attack ever, which led to the tragic deaths of 192 people and destruction of numerous trains.
Police quickly arrest Baby and Emilio on suspicion of their roles in assisting with the attack, leading them to press charges against both of them and pressure Baby into testifying against his idol, Emilio. As Baby becomes the first person found guilty against Emilio, pressure mounts upon him. This captivating Disney+ miniseries follows one young person as they get embroiled in serious crime but struggle to understand their situation.
Is See You in Another Life Based on a Novel?
Alberto Sanchez-Cabezudo and Jorge Sanchez-Cabezudo collaborated with other writers to adapt Manuel Jabois’s book “Nos vemos en esta vida o en la otra,” known by its Spanish title of “Nos Vemos En Esta Vida O En La Otra,” into television drama series called “See You in Another Life.” The 2004 Madrid Train Bombings are recounted through Gabriel Montoya Vidal aka Baby; over 10 years after that event Manuel Jabois interviewed Baby who shared his life story as told through Gabriel Montoya Vidal himself.
On March 11, 2004, explosions struck Madrid commuter trains early that morning, injuring over 2,000 and killing 192. Islamic extremist networks planned these bombs as protests against Spain’s involvement in Iraq War; converted dynamite originally intended for mining was converted into homemade explosives for this attack.
Emilio Trashorras, a former miner who smuggled explosives for marijuana, provided them with dynamite for use in their assaults. Baby came into play here: Gabriel Montoya Vidal from Spain helped obtain explosives used during these assaults; after being detained and accused, he went on to testify extensively, which contributed to convicting those behind this atrocity.
Manuel Jabois was taken aback when Gabriel Montoya Vidal unwittingly became embroiled in a major terrorist strike through his minor transgressions. Gabriel initially responded apathetically to this tragedy by repeating phrases such as, ‘What’s done is done.
Baby is famously quoted in response to being asked by a journalist about remorse and regret: “I’m sorry for what happened,” which appears in both real-life information from Emilio Trashorras as well as character analysis from his novel. Manuel Jabois who was validated by Emilio while imprisoned, meticulously recreated incidents from conversations he had with Baby in order to depict what occurred at each scene in the series.
Manuel Jabois’ book provides an objective narrative of events from Baby’s point of view. Alberto and Jorge Sanchez-Cabezudo added some minor fictionalizations when adapting this tale for television, in order to add drama and show respect for victims’ families.
To prevent portraying Baby as an unfair hero, the directors aimed to strike a balance between Baby’s story and their critical stance. In an interview, they clarified their approach as follows: “we weren’t making a documentary; we were creating fiction based on Gabriel’s dialogues from Gabriel’s book”. While making changes necessary for their story arc, they made every attempt possible to stay faithful to events themselves.
What Happened to Emilio Trashorras and Gabriel Montoya Vidal?
Emilio Trashorras has been sentenced to 34,715 years of prison time for his involvement in the 2004 Madrid bombings; however, Spanish statute limits his sentence to 40 years; thus his release should come sometime around 2040s or later – and by 2024 will have reached 47 years old and out. Since a 2023 Supreme Court decision that legalized euthanasia in Spain allowed Trashorras has repeatedly challenged his sentence through filing appeals with mental illness as the justification.
Gabriel Montoya Vidal was only sixteen at the time of the explosives; however, he was given six years in prison and five years of probation as punishment for them. Gabriel gained notoriety for refusing to regret them after being moved to juvenile detention at sixteen; instead showing an attitude of indifference when commemorating those lost due to explosion.
Gabriel seems to have matured. At age 22, Gabriel was released from juvenile detention. Manuel Jabois last saw Gabriel in 2016. Since then, he has put forth significant effort into improving his life; in 2024 he and Judith, his spouse, moved from Retames into Aviles with two children in tow.
Gabriel has kept a relatively low profile among his neighbors and stays out of the limelight to protect his family. “See You in Another Life” wasn’t written by Gabriel; rather it was composed by someone else. In an interview he revealed his intentions of moving forward by acknowledging “what I have done” throughout his lifetime while admitting the difficulties they’d endured together as they had survived together despite it all. “We made it through, though it was difficult.”
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