Reconciliation without forgiveness? Reading Icíar Bollaín's Maixabel (2021) with Hannah Arendt.

This article examines Spain's multifaceted approach to addressing the violent legacy of Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), focusing on the reparatory encounters between ETA perpetrators and victims as depicted in Icíar Bollaín's 2021 film *Maixabel*. Drawing on Hannah Arendt's philosophical distinction between reconciliation and forgiveness, alongside Jacques Derrida's critiques, the analysis highlights tensions between the film's realist directorial intent, the real-life testimony of Maixabel Lasa (the victim portrayed), and broader debates on transitional justice. While Arendt separates reconciliation from forgiveness, the film and Lasa's experience suggest a more nuanced interplay where personal and public forgiveness coexist with reconciliation as transformative, embodied processes. The article underscores the plural and contested nature of reparatory justice in Spain, emphasizing that such encounters, though short-lived, offer meaningful possibilities for ethical transformation beyond rigid philosophical prescriptions.