"I am a better writer after Carmen Mola... and I was already very good"

Half thriller, half historical novel, 'The Spy' (Planeta) is the fifth novel by Jorge Díaz, a member of the trio of writers who write under the pseudonym Carmen Mola. Obsessed with 'The Truth About the Savolta Case' by Eduardo Mendoza, Díaz is fascinated by the dissolute environments of the early 20th century, where gunmen, spies, and anarchists roam freely in dissolute spaces, strikes, and brawls. Díaz, who owes his early vocation as a writer to Mendoza, delved into the wonderful characters of that era and retrieved from the entire framework Commissioner Brabo Portillo, one of the villains of the story, and Baron Von Roland, a skinny, handsome, seductive, and very strange man. Suffice it to say he was a Jew who collaborated with the Nazis and liked to lose himself in the night following the trail of cabarets and brothels. "The Nazis captured him, accused him of treason, and took him to Spain. Here he managed to get a passport."

In 'The Spy', Díaz tells the story of Isaac Ezratty, a German agent of Jewish origin who was responsible for German espionage in Barcelona between 1914 and 1918, an activity he resumed in World War II to work for the Third Reich, despite the Jewish heritage of his ancestors. The writer invents his ending, as Ezratty's trail is lost in Argentina. His whereabouts were never known.

After working for a long time with his colleagues from the Carmen Mola trio, composed of Agustín Martínez, Antonio Mercero, and himself, Díaz has learned not to settle for the first idea that comes up. "I am a better writer after Carmen Mola..., and I was already very good... (Laughs). I admit that my way of killing characters has changed. I used to do it any old way. Now I like to find the right moment," says the author, who believes that the craft of writing is demonstrated by knowing how to fill in the gaps of a story when not all the ends are available. Following this maxim, when he discovered Mojácar (Almería), he said to himself that this was the ideal place to invent the existence of a German submarine base during World War II. Not for nothing, there was a mineral unloading dock there during the Civil War. "I like to create contrasts: the sophisticated Jew in Barcelona versus the simplicity of Mojácar, the urban versus the rural, the refined in contrast with the brutal. These conflicts are what give strength to the plot."

The novel features real characters, such as Pilar Millán-Astray, sister of the founder of the Legion, who was widowed in World War I and, with three children to care for, had no choice but to become a spy. A master at infiltrating high society circles and disguising herself to cultivate friendships with military and diplomats, she developed an extraordinary skill for stealing plans. "After the war, she wrote plays, and her work 'La tonta del bote' became a great success."

"I like the villains in novels, not in real life. Sometimes I make the mistake of making them very attractive. Then, I have to ensure that at the last moment, when you discover why they died, it is understood that they deserved it."

Now that the responsibility of the writer has come into debate following the case of the book 'El odio', written by Luisgé Martín, which the publisher Anagrama has refused to circulate, Díaz asserts that he has not read the volume. "It doesn't concern me. I don't have a reasonable opinion about the book. I think what any person on the street might think: to warn that it should not be censored, that it should be published. I don't have a concrete opinion. But I have written a novel that I believe is respectful to everyone... I don't think it has anything to do with it."

When working for the Carmen Mola collective, he had to compromise. As a television scriptwriter, he has been forced to deal with the annoying process of defending ideas that are not his own. Now, when he has signed his name solo on 'The Spy', he saw himself free of constraints, a fleeting moment that lasted little. "I started writing novels to decide on my own. But look where the novels have led me back to negotiating with others."

The three writers have a rule to avoid commenting on their solo works until the manuscript is endorsed by the editor.