Jaime Giménez Arbe

Jaime Giménez Arbe (also spelled Jiménez: born Madrid, 12 January 1956) is a Spanish bank robber known as El Solitario ("The Loner").

He admitted to more than thirty armed robberies of banks all over Spain, and was also convicted of the murder of two Civil Guards in Castejón (Navarra). In addition, in La Vall d'Uixó (Castellón), during an exchange of fire with El Solitario, one policeman died due to a stray bullet fired by another policeman. He was sentenced to 47 years' imprisonment in July 2008.

He has two sons with his British ex-wife Anne.

Detention He was arrested on 23 July 2007, in Figueira da Foz as part of "Operation Gloria". A large number of police officers, both Spanish (National Police officers and Civil Guards from the Central Operational Unit) and Portuguese (Judiciary Police) were there to arrest him while he was, presumably, about to rob the “Caixa Agrícola” Bank, located on Saraiva de Carvalho Street, near the market. He was charged with the murder of two Civil Guards, whom he shot after they asked him to identify himself.

When he was arrested, he was disguised with false beard, mustache and wig and, as always, he wore his bulletproof vest and carried three guns: two short ones and an automatic one. The unprecedented police presence looking for him ended a decade of crimes that made him one of the most wanted criminals in Spanish criminal history. In his usual dwelling, and also in a warehouse of his own, large numbers of guns and amounts of ammunition were found, as well as articles of disguise.

He was taken to Coimbra, where he was to make a statement before a judge. At the court door, before the many curious people and the media, he shouted "Hola a todos, soy El Solitario. ¡Salud españoles!" ("Hi, everyone. I’m The Loner. Here’s to you, Spain!")

Stay in prison On 27 July 2007 he started a hunger strike as a protest against being moved to a high security level prison. He stopped the protest two days later.

According to his lawyers, Portuguese Elisa Maia and Spanish José Mariano Trillo-Figueroa in an August 2007 press-conference, he admitted being a robber, but denied having murdered the three people of whose deaths he is accused, claiming that the former Civil Guard General Enrique Rodríguez Galindo, and the former President of the Regional Government of Extremadura Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra were involved in the shooting of a shepherd in Zafra. and stating "I am innocent of the death of the two civil guards of Castejón and of a municipal policeman of Vall D "Uixó. It is my word of honor. I am not a murderer and if I have been forced to shoot law enforcement officers it has always been against my will and to avoid my arrest." He also admitted the robberies, stating "I robbed banks in order to liberate the Spanish from the banks’ thefts".

Trial During his trial in the Navarra Provincial High Court in July 2008, Jaime Giménez Arbe pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder of two Civil Guards, as well as declaring himself antisystem and anarchist and defining his robberies as “bank expropriation”. He also said he had started his criminal career with Corsican anti-capitalist groups, with which he committed his first robbery. Those sworn statements are similar to the ones in the letter he wrote in a letter to “public opinion” during his stay in Zuera prison.

He was found guilty of the murder in 2004 of the two Civil Guards, and was sentenced to 47 years' imprisonment.

Criminal record DateTownProvinceCountryDetails January 18, 1993 Adamuz Córdoba Spain He used a Citroen C15, and was possibly helped by his brother. This bank does not exist any more. May 2, 1994 Viveiro Lugo Spain Robbed a Banco Exterior de España office. Appropriated 5,700,000 pesetas. May 10, 1996 Zafra Badajoz Spain Shooting with the Civil Guard outside a savings bank in which Arbe was wounded. He used a Renault 4 sadan, the plates of which belonged to a shepherd who was later mistakenly shot by the Civil Guard. May 22, 1998 Melide A Coruña Spain Robbed a Caixa Galicia Bank office. July 4, 1998 Teruel Teruel Spain Fled in a jeep after appropriating 1,778,000 pesetas from a CAI office. September 4, 1998 Binéfar Huesca Spain Appropriated 3,997,000 pesetas from an Ibercaja office. November 26, 1998 Jumilla Murcia Spain Robbed a CAM office and appropriated ₧12,600,000 million. March 5, 1999 La Roda Albacete Spain Appropriated 3,000,000 pesetas from a Caja de Ahorros de Castilla La Mancha office. April 23, 1999 Socuéllamos Ciudad Real Spain Attacked a CCM office and appropriated two million pesetas. June 10, 1999 Calahorra La Rioja Spain Appropriated 1,197,000 pesetas from a Cajarioja office. July 14, 1999 A Estrada Pontevedra Spain Appropriated 1,668,000 pesetas from a Caixa Pontevedra office. July 15, 1999 Chantada Lugo Spain September 2, 1999 Alfaro La Rioja Spain Appropriated more than 3,000,000 pesetas from the Ibercaja office in Alfaro's España Square.. October 14, 1999 Calamocha Teruel Spain Appropriated 4,100,000 pesetas from an Ibercaja office. Fled in a Suzuki. October 15, 1999 Cariñena Zaragoza Spain December 23, 1999 Mula Murcia Spain As he was leaving, he said “Merry Christmas” to those present. May 10, 2000 La Vall d'Uixó Castellón Spain Robbed a Caja Rural de San Isidro office, appropriating 3,300,000 pesetas. There was an exchange of fire with local police. One police officer died as a result of a shot by another. December 22, 2000 Gallur Zaragoza Spain June 14, 2001 Pina de Ebro Zaragoza Spain August 18, 2001 Cee A Coruña Spain October 9, 2001 Zuera Zaragoza Spain January 23, 2002 Calasparra Murcia Spain Appropriated his largest amount in robberies up to then, more than €100,000. He carried out no more robberies for a year. March 26, 2003 Pozoblanco Córdoba Spain Robbed a CajaSur office and appropriated €30,000. Fled in a Suzuki Vitara. August 20, 2003 Vilalba Lugo Spain September 19, 2003 Torrijos Toledo Spain Robbed a CCM office located in España Square. June 9, 2004 Castejón Navarra Spain Killed two Civil Guards with a sub-machine gun, after a failed robbery in La Rioja (Spain). April 20, 2006 Sarria Lugo Spain Shot a clerk in the leg and fled with €835,000. May 10, 2006 Alcobendas Madrid Spain In La Moraleja district. Fled in a Renault Kangoo. May 12, 2006 Tres Cantos Madrid Spain October 10, 2006 L'Alcúdia Valencia Spain Robbed the Banco Popular office located in Antoni Almela Street, and appropriated €6,000. November 11, 2006 Ávila Ávila Spain Robbed #8 Caja Ávila office, located between Virgen de las Angustias Street and Padre Victoriano Street. December 14, 2006 San Agustín del Guadalix Madrid Spain Appropriated €10,000. This office had been previously robbed more than ten times. February 7, 2007 Madrid Madrid Spain In Canillas district, 200 meters away from the Judge Police Station. May 18, 2007 Toro Zamora Spain Shot a clerk in the leg, and fled with €6,000. July 23, 2007 Figueira da Foz Coimbra Portugal Arrested as he was going to rob a bank in Figueira da Foz, Portugal.

Representations in media Soy El Solitario (I am The Loner) is a Spanish TV-miniseries by Manuel Ríos San Martín based on the investigation that lead to the arrest of Arbe. Me llaman el Solitario: autobiografía de un expropiador de bancos is an autobiography by Arbe with foreword by Lucio Urtubia. published in 2009. La caza del solitario: documentary series released in 2015 and created by Carles Porta.