Tamal Kundu
Created by Xosé Morais and Víctor Sierra, ‘The Longest Night’ or ‘La noche más larga’ deftly balances drama and action to deliver a wholesome experience. The plot is predominantly set at Monte Baruca or Baruca Hill Psychiatric Correctional Facility. On the night of Christmas Eve, dreaded serial killer Simón Lago (Luis Callejo), known by the pseudonym The Alligator, is sent there, much to the surprise of the facility staff, including the prison director or warden Hugo Roca (Alberto Ammann). Soon, Hugo discovers that his daughter has been kidnapped, and if he wants to see her again, he must not hand The Alligator over to the armed group of individuals attacking his facility. If you are wondering whether Baruca Hill is a real prison, we got you covered. SPOILERS AHEAD.
What Is Baruca Hill?
In ‘The Longest Night,’ Baruca Hill is a part hospital, part prison facility. It is primarily divided in two blocks — Red and Green — with Red Block housing the more violent and unpredictable inmates/patients. It is an old facility, where everything creaks and often doesn’t work properly. According to Bastos, the head of security, Baruca is on its last legs; it’s one of the few remaining psychiatric prisons.
Baruca is definitely not a facility where someone as high-profile as Simón will be sent under normal circumstances. Only maximum-security prisons have the resources to hold him. Hugo and his staff know this well. They don’t harbor any illusion about their workplace. Their surprise about Simón’s arrival stems from this sense of practicality. However, these are the very reasons why Baruca was selected.
The show hasn’t yet explicitly revealed who actually picked Baruca. There are two conflicting factions between whom Hugo and his staff are trapped. Given how things have turned out, Alejandro Tous’ character, the man with the long hair, and his associates likely chose Baruca, believing it would be easier to extract Simón from there. They didn’t think that they would face such fierce resistance. It’s only later they discover the reason for this. Someone else has known that Simón will be taken to Baruca and kidnapped Hugo’s daughter to force his compliance.
Is Baruca Hill a Real prison?
No, Baruca Hill isn’t a real psychiatric prison. The first season of the series was predominantly filmed in Madrid, including the scenes involving Baruca Hill. Ammann made his cinematic debut with the Spanish-French prison film, ‘Cell 211,’ in 2009. He said in a July 2022 interview that he was enthusiastic about the prison environment and enjoyed it quite a bit. However, while assessing ‘The Longest Night,’ he focused on the differences between the Netflix series and his first film.
‘The Longest Night’ was developed under the name ‘Baruca,’ a clear indication of the role that the facility plays in the narrative. Despite its suspense and action credentials, the show designates a significant portion of the narrative to explore mental health issues and the sexual, physical, and mental abuse that the inmates/patients face on a regular basis in these types of outdated facilities in the real world.
Read More: Is Simón Lago “The Alligator” Based on a Real Serial Killer?
