{"id":2140256,"date":"2026-09-11T04:00:41","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T01:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2140256"},"modified":"2026-09-11T04:00:41","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T01:00:41","slug":"the-survivor-inside-the-story-of-a-spanish-woman-who-posed-as-a-9-11-victim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2140256","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;The Survivor&#8217;: Inside the story of a Spanish woman who posed as a 9\/11 victim"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/90\/32\/93\/1200x675_cmsv2_187da155-e52f-55be-bac5-b5b5c6158087-9903293.jpg&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article id=\"abe-2925035-pos1-c-latest-stories\" class=\"the-media-object m-modeMobile-1 m-modeDesktop-1 m-modeXL-1\" data-nid=\"2925035\" data-cid=\"9910644\" data-part-label=\"Partner content\">\n<figure id=\"abe-2925035-label-pos1-c-latest-stories\" class=\"the-media-object__figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"the-media-object__image\" src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/91\/06\/44\/189x106_cmsv2_439a750c-fb96-5730-a4c3-2e5cc49ff457-9910644.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov \" height=\"9\" width=\"16\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n                    Europe News<\/p>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    France joins Slovakia in asking to delist Russian oligarch Usmanov\n  <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article id=\"abe-2925069-pos2-c-latest-stories\" class=\"the-media-object m-modeMobile-1 m-modeDesktop-1 m-modeXL-1\" data-nid=\"2925069\" data-cid=\"9910753\" data-part-label=\"Partner content\">\n<figure id=\"abe-2925069-label-pos2-c-latest-stories\" class=\"the-media-object__figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"the-media-object__image\" src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/91\/07\/53\/189x106_cmsv2_ddb79bd5-a36d-5ab6-9dc3-a845487ea657-9910753.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Police officers form a line to block protesters near Eastney Beach, in Portsmouth, England, Sunday, 6 Sept., 2026. \" height=\"9\" width=\"16\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n                    Europe News<\/p>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    UK police ban face coverings at planned anti-migrant protest\n  <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article id=\"abe-2925050-pos3-c-latest-stories\" class=\"the-media-object m-modeMobile-1 m-modeDesktop-1 m-modeXL-1 the-media-object--has-video\" data-nid=\"2925050\" data-cid=\"9910707\" data-part-label=\"Partner content\">\n<figure id=\"abe-2925050-label-pos3-c-latest-stories\" class=\"the-media-object__figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"the-media-object__image\" src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/91\/07\/07\/189x106_cmsv2_85aa1d00-3aad-520b-8520-f54bcee81835-9910707.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"People join hands in prayer for Father Mychal Judge during a ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the 9\/11 attacks in New York City on 11 September 2026.\" height=\"9\" width=\"16\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n                    USA<\/p>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    US commemorates 25th anniversary of 9\/11 attacks\n  <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article id=\"abe-2924914-pos4-c-latest-stories\" class=\"the-media-object m-modeMobile-1 m-modeDesktop-1 m-modeXL-1\" data-nid=\"2924914\" data-cid=\"9910186\" data-part-label=\"Partner content\">\n<figure id=\"abe-2924914-label-pos4-c-latest-stories\" class=\"the-media-object__figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"the-media-object__image\" src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/91\/00\/86\/189x106_cmsv2_f6ae47d8-6cb9-57a4-9950-beb984b00e5e-9910086.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"French President Emmanuel Macron, accompanied by Education Minister \u00c9douard Geffray, at the Chaptal lyc\u00e9e in Mende, in southern France.\" height=\"9\" width=\"16\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n                    Europe News<\/p>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    French father jailed for threatening to behead his son\u2019s teacher\n  <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article id=\"abe-2925035-pos1-c-latest-stories-sidebar\" class=\"the-media-object m-modeMobile-2 m-modeDesktop-2 m-modeXL-2\" data-nid=\"2925035\" data-cid=\"9910644\" data-part-label=\"Partner content\">\n<figure id=\"abe-2925035-label-pos1-c-latest-stories-sidebar\" class=\"the-media-object__figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"the-media-object__image\" src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/91\/06\/44\/189x106_cmsv2_439a750c-fb96-5730-a4c3-2e5cc49ff457-9910644.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov \" height=\"9\" width=\"16\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n                    Europe News<\/p>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    France joins Slovakia in asking to delist Russian oligarch Usmanov\n  <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article id=\"abe-2925069-pos2-c-latest-stories-sidebar\" class=\"the-media-object m-modeMobile-2 m-modeDesktop-2 m-modeXL-2\" data-nid=\"2925069\" data-cid=\"9910753\" data-part-label=\"Partner content\">\n<figure id=\"abe-2925069-label-pos2-c-latest-stories-sidebar\" class=\"the-media-object__figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"the-media-object__image\" src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/91\/07\/53\/189x106_cmsv2_ddb79bd5-a36d-5ab6-9dc3-a845487ea657-9910753.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Police officers form a line to block protesters near Eastney Beach, in Portsmouth, England, Sunday, 6 Sept., 2026. \" height=\"9\" width=\"16\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n                    Europe News<\/p>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    UK police ban face coverings at planned anti-migrant protest\n  <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article id=\"abe-2925050-pos3-c-latest-stories-sidebar\" class=\"the-media-object m-modeMobile-2 m-modeDesktop-2 m-modeXL-2 the-media-object--has-video\" data-nid=\"2925050\" data-cid=\"9910707\" data-part-label=\"Partner content\">\n<figure id=\"abe-2925050-label-pos3-c-latest-stories-sidebar\" class=\"the-media-object__figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"the-media-object__image\" src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/91\/07\/07\/189x106_cmsv2_85aa1d00-3aad-520b-8520-f54bcee81835-9910707.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"People join hands in prayer for Father Mychal Judge during a ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the 9\/11 attacks in New York City on 11 September 2026.\" height=\"9\" width=\"16\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n                    USA<\/p>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    US commemorates 25th anniversary of 9\/11 attacks\n  <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article id=\"abe-2924914-pos4-c-latest-stories-sidebar\" class=\"the-media-object m-modeMobile-2 m-modeDesktop-2 m-modeXL-2\" data-nid=\"2924914\" data-cid=\"9910186\" data-part-label=\"Partner content\">\n<figure id=\"abe-2924914-label-pos4-c-latest-stories-sidebar\" class=\"the-media-object__figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"the-media-object__image\" src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/91\/00\/86\/189x106_cmsv2_f6ae47d8-6cb9-57a4-9950-beb984b00e5e-9910086.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"French President Emmanuel Macron, accompanied by Education Minister \u00c9douard Geffray, at the Chaptal lyc\u00e9e in Mende, in southern France.\" height=\"9\" width=\"16\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n                    Europe News<\/p>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    French father jailed for threatening to behead his son\u2019s teacher\n  <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article class=\"helper-site-row o-article-newsy\">\n<div class=\"helper-site-container o-article-newsy__container\">\n<div class=\"o-article-newsy__main\">\n<header class=\"h-grid o-article-newsy__main__header\">\n<nav aria-label=\"Breadcrumbs\" class=\"c-article-breadcrumbs\">\n<div id=\"adb-article-breadcrumb\" class=\"c-article-breadcrumbs__list\">\n<p>                          Culture<\/p>\n<p>                          Culture Series<\/p>\n<p>                          Cinema<\/p><\/div>\n<\/nav>\n<h1 class=\"c-article-redesign-title\">\n                            &#8216;The Survivor&#8217;: Inside the story of a Spanish woman who posed as a 9\/11 victim<\/h1>\n<div class=\"c-article-image-video u-position-relative \">\n<div class=\"js-superdiv u-aspect-ratio-16x9 u-position-relative \" data-controller=\"video-player\" data-sponsored=\"Partner content\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-poster-img c-article-media__img\" src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/90\/32\/93\/1536x864_cmsv2_187da155-e52f-55be-bac5-b5b5c6158087-9903293.jpg\" width=\"1536\" height=\"864\" loading=\"eager\" alt=\"11 September 2026: collapse of the first twin tower\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"c-article-caption u-position-absolute\"><i id=\"article-caption-content\" class=\"c-article-caption__content\"><span class=\"c-article-caption__text\"><br \/>\n              11 September 2026, collapse of the first Twin Tower<br \/>\n                    <span class=\"u-color-white\">&#8211;\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"c-article-caption__copyright\">Copyright\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"c-article-caption__credit\">JIM COLLINS\/AP2001<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<div class=\"c-article-image-copyright c-article-image-copyright--novideo\">\n      Copyright\u00a0JIM COLLINS\/AP2001\n  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"h-grid o-article-newsy__main__body u-article-content\">\n<div class=\"o-article-newsy__contributors-publication-date\">\n<div class=\"c-article-contributors\">\n  By&amp;nbspJes\u00fas Maturana\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"c-article-publication-date\" data-timestamp=\"1789099241\">\n         Published on<br \/>\n            <time datetime=\"2026-09-11 06:00:41 +02:00\">11\/09\/2026 &#8211; 6:00 GMT+2<\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"c-article-share-comment u-align-items-center u-display-flex\"><span class=\"c-article-share-comment__links u-align-items-center u-display-flex u-justify-content-center js-c-article-share-comment-share\"><span class=\"c-article-share-comment__label\">Share<\/span><\/span><span class=\"c-article-share-comment__label\">Comments<\/span><span 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loading=\"lazy\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"c-article-summary\">\n        Catalan Alicia Esteve spent six years posing as Tania Head, a 9\/11 survivor and head of a victims&#8217; association. In a new documentary &#8220;The Survivor&#8221;, Kike Ma\u00edllo investigates how the lie endured until she was exposed by The New York Times in 2007.<br \/>\n    <\/h2>\n<div class=\"c-article-content c-article-content--culture js-article-content\">\n<p>Tania Head was, according to her own account, one of 18 people who survived on the 78th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center, the area located above the point where the second plane struck on 11 September 2001.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"c-ad u-show-for-mobile-only\">\n<div class=\"c-ad__placeholder\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-ad__placeholder__logo\" src=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/website\/images\/logos\/logo-euronews-stacked-outlined-72x72-grey-9.svg\" width=\"72\" height=\"72\" alt loading=\"lazy\"><span>ADVERTISEMENT<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"c-ad u-show-for-desktop\">\n<div class=\"c-ad__placeholder\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-ad__placeholder__logo\" src=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/website\/images\/logos\/logo-euronews-stacked-outlined-72x72-grey-9.svg\" width=\"72\" height=\"72\" alt loading=\"lazy\"><span>ADVERTISEMENT<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>She said that a dying man handed her his wedding ring so she could return it to his widow, that a volunteer with his clothes on fire helped her down the stairs, and that she lost her fianc\u00e9, David, in the North Tower. On the strength of that story, shewent on to chair the World Trade Center Survivors&#8217; Associationand to meet Rudy Giuliani, then mayor of New York.<\/p>\n<p>None of that was true. Tania Head was in fact Alicia Esteve, a young woman from Barcelona who, on the day of the attacks, was doing a master&#8217;s degree in the city and had never set foot in the Twin Towers.<\/p>\n<p>Nor did the engagement to David Scott Su\u00e1rez, the Deloitte employee killed in the attack to whom she claimed to have been engaged, ever exist. Neither his family, nor the company he supposedly worked for, ever confirm that link.<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-widget-related\" data-stories-id data-event=\"widget_related\">\n<div class=\"c-widget-related__title\"><b class=\"c-widget-related__title__text\" lang=\"en\">Related<\/b><\/div>\n<ul class=\"c-widget-related__list\" id=\"abe-article-related-1\">\n<li class=\"c-widget-related__item\">Culture Re-View: How 9\/11 changed films, music and books for two decades<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>The lie held until 2007, when New York Times journalists David W. Dunlap and Serge F. Kovaleski, following an intuition that something in her story did not add up, exposed it. Shortly afterwards, word began to circulate in survivors&#8217; forums that Alicia Esteve had committed suicide, a claim that has never been confirmed.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"1.4277777777777778\">\n<div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n<div class=\"widget__contents\">\n<figure class=\"widget__figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/90\/32\/93\/808x1154_cmsv2_58499be6-897f-58b3-b4c6-1f50876991e7-9903293.jpg\" alt=\"Poster for Kike Ma\u00edllo&apos;s 88-minute documentary\"><figcaption class=\"widget__caption\"><span class=\"widget__captionWrap\"><span class=\"widget__captionText\">Poster for Kike Ma\u00edllo&#8217;s 88-minute documentary<\/span><span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Sabado diez<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Kike Ma\u00edllo&#8217;s documentary: <em>The Survivor<\/em><\/h2>\n<p>No fewer than 25 years after the attacks, Barcelona-born director Kike Ma\u00edllo, known for <em>Eva<\/em> and <em>Toro<\/em>, delves into this story with <em>The Survivor<\/em>, a documentary that continues the line opened with <em>Oswald. El falsificador<\/em>, his previous work on art forger Oswald Aulestia.<\/p>\n<p>As Alicia Esteve has refused to take part or show her face, Ma\u00edllo turns to actor and comedian Hannah Becker to reconstruct, using direct sources such as writings and therapy recordings, what was never filmed or answered in a real interview.<\/p>\n<p>For the documentary, Ma\u00edllo travels to the United States and interviews those who knew Tania Head well: survivors from the association, the former president she ousted, and Sam Kedem, the psychologist who treated her as a victim of the attack without ever detecting any inconsistency in her account. Opinions of her are far from unanimous.<\/p>\n<p>Some remember her as a woman hungry for the limelight; others argue that without her dedication the association would not have achieved even half the impact or the goals it did, and stress that she never made any money out of the fraud.<\/p>\n<p>It is an 88-minute documentary portraying the Catalan woman who for years took advantage of passing herself off as just another victim.<\/p>\n<h2>Why did nobody uncover her sooner?<\/h2>\n<p>What the documentary sets out to do, more than track down the current whereabouts of Alicia Esteve, is to understand how she was able to sustain for six years**,** without arousing suspicion, a completely invented identity and trauma.<\/p>\n<p>The case has parallels with that of Enric Marco, the Catalan who pretended to be a survivor of the Flossenb\u00fcrg concentration camp and even went on to chair the Amical de Mauthausen before being unmasked <em>(source in Spanish)<\/em>. In both cases, a narrative built out of emotive detail connected with the public in a way that the more sober real testimonies did not manage.<\/p>\n<p>The question the documentary leaves hanging is not only how Alicia Esteve managed to fool so many people, but what collective need allowed that lie to work for so long without anyone, not even a psychologist, questioning her story.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>The Survivor<\/em> is available to watch from 11 September on Spanish streaming platform Filmin.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>                                  Go to accessibility shortcuts<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-article-share-comment u-align-items-center u-display-flex\"><span class=\"c-article-share-comment__links u-align-items-center u-display-flex u-justify-content-center js-c-article-share-comment-share\"><span class=\"c-article-share-comment__label\">Share<\/span><\/span><span class=\"c-article-share-comment__label\">Comments<\/span><span class=\"c-article-share-comment__label 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src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/90\/99\/78\/320x180_cmsv2_2e58f9fe-bcef-59ce-803f-c68cac620ad4-9909978.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor for the film &apos;Naza&apos; during the 83rd edition of the Venice Film Festival - 10 September 2026\" height=\"9\" width=\"16\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n<h3 class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    Gaza documentary \u2018NAZA\u2019 wows Venice and breaks standing ovation record<br \/>\n  <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article id=\"abe-2924643-pos4-top-stories\" class=\"the-media-object m-modeMobile-2 m-modeDesktop-2 m-modeXL-2 the-media-object--has-video the-media-object--no-label\" data-nid=\"2924643\" data-cid=\"9908616\" data-part-label=\"Partner content\">\n<figure id=\"abe-2924643-label-pos4-top-stories\" class=\"the-media-object__figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"the-media-object__image\" src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/90\/86\/16\/320x180_cmsv2_08c80b04-b8af-52b4-bc61-7ed20575bea8-9908616.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Film of the Week: &apos;Oasis: Don\u2019t Look Back In Anger&apos;\" height=\"9\" width=\"16\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n<h3 class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    Film of the Week: &#8216;Oasis: Don&#8217;t Look Back In Anger&#8217; &#8211; Biblical?<br \/>\n  <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article id=\"abe-2924875-pos5-top-stories\" class=\"the-media-object m-modeMobile-2 m-modeDesktop-2 m-modeXL-2 the-media-object--has-video the-media-object--no-label\" data-nid=\"2924875\" data-cid=\"9909742\" data-part-label=\"Partner content\">\n<figure id=\"abe-2924875-label-pos5-top-stories\" class=\"the-media-object__figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"the-media-object__image\" src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/90\/97\/42\/320x180_cmsv2_fe38d18b-a7e6-5340-8187-9df67156e738-9909742.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Princess Diana&apos;s &apos;revenge dress&apos; to go up for auction  \" height=\"9\" width=\"16\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n<h3 class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    &#8216;One of the most powerful messages she ever made&#8217;: Princess Diana&#8217;s &#8216;Revenge Dress&#8217; to go up for auction<br \/>\n  <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article id=\"abe-2924910-pos6-top-stories\" class=\"the-media-object m-modeMobile-2 m-modeDesktop-2 m-modeXL-2 the-media-object--no-label\" data-nid=\"2924910\" data-cid=\"9910032\" data-part-label=\"Partner content\">\n<figure id=\"abe-2924910-label-pos6-top-stories\" class=\"the-media-object__figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"the-media-object__image\" src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/91\/00\/32\/320x180_cmsv2_3aaf7b41-5637-5c1a-937f-790db591abfa-9910032.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"The OECD&apos;s PISA report measures 15-year-old&apos;s abilities in reading, mathematics and science. \" height=\"9\" width=\"16\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n<h3 class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    Are you smarter than a 15-year-old? Try these OECD Pisa tests<br \/>\n  <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article id=\"abe-2923980-pos1-mostViewed\" class=\"the-media-object m-modeMobile-3 m-modeDesktop-3 m-modeXL-3 the-media-object--has-related the-media-object--no-label\" data-nid=\"2923980\" data-cid=\"9905401\" data-part-label=\"Partner content\">\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n<h3 class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    Spanish archaeologists find 4,400-year-old tomb in Egypt with original colours intact<br \/>\n  <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article id=\"abe-2924288-pos2-mostViewed\" class=\"the-media-object m-modeMobile-3 m-modeDesktop-3 m-modeXL-3 the-media-object--has-video the-media-object--has-related the-media-object--no-label\" data-nid=\"2924288\" data-cid=\"9907378\" data-part-label=\"Partner content\">\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n<h3 class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    &#8216;Back to the city&#8217;: Italy unveils biggest frescoe from ancient Rome<br \/>\n  <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article id=\"abe-2923552-pos3-mostViewed\" class=\"the-media-object m-modeMobile-3 m-modeDesktop-3 m-modeXL-3 the-media-object--has-related the-media-object--no-label\" data-nid=\"2923552\" data-cid=\"9905075\" data-part-label=\"Partner content\">\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n<h3 class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    &#8216;The Survivor&#8217;: Why did a Spanish woman lie about being a 9\/11 victim?<br \/>\n  <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article id=\"abe-2924910-pos4-mostViewed\" class=\"the-media-object m-modeMobile-3 m-modeDesktop-3 m-modeXL-3 the-media-object--has-related the-media-object--no-label\" data-nid=\"2924910\" data-cid=\"9910032\" data-part-label=\"Partner content\">\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n<h3 class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    Are you smarter than a 15-year-old? Try these OECD Pisa tests<br \/>\n  <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article id=\"abe-2924905-pos5-mostViewed\" class=\"the-media-object m-modeMobile-3 m-modeDesktop-3 m-modeXL-3 the-media-object--has-related the-media-object--no-label\" data-nid=\"2924905\" data-cid=\"9909978\" data-part-label=\"Partner content\">\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n<h3 class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    Gaza documentary \u2018NAZA\u2019 wows Venice and breaks standing ovation record<br \/>\n  <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"articleBody\" data-key=\"articleBody\">Tania Head was, according to her own account, one of 18 people who survived on the 78th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center, the area located above the point where the second plane struck on 11 September 2001.She said that a dying man handed her his wedding ring so she could return it to his widow, that a volunteer with his clothes on fire helped her down the stairs, and that she lost her fianc\u00e9, David, in the North Tower. On the strength of that story, she went on to chair the World Trade Center Survivors&#8217; Association and to meet Rudy Giuliani, then mayor of New York.None of that was true. Tania Head was in fact Alicia Esteve, a young woman from Barcelona who, on the day of the attacks, was doing a master&#8217;s degree in the city and had never set foot in the Twin Towers.Nor did the engagement to David Scott Su\u00e1rez, the Deloitte employee killed in the attack to whom she claimed to have been engaged, ever exist. Neither his family, nor the company he supposedly worked for, ever confirm that link.The lie held until 2007, when New York Times journalists David W. Dunlap and Serge F. Kovaleski, following an intuition that something in her story did not add up, exposed it. Shortly afterwards, word began to circulate in survivors&#8217; forums that Alicia Esteve had committed suicide, a claim that has never been confirmed.Kike Ma\u00edllo&#8217;s documentary: The SurvivorNo fewer than 25 years after the attacks, Barcelona-born director Kike Ma\u00edllo, known for Eva and Toro, delves into this story with The Survivor, a documentary that continues the line opened with Oswald. El falsificador, his previous work on art forger Oswald Aulestia.As Alicia Esteve has refused to take part or show her face, Ma\u00edllo turns to actor and comedian Hannah Becker to reconstruct, using direct sources such as writings and therapy recordings, what was never filmed or answered in a real interview.For the documentary, Ma\u00edllo travels to the United States and interviews those who knew Tania Head well: survivors from the association, the former president she ousted, and Sam Kedem, the psychologist who treated her as a victim of the attack without ever detecting any inconsistency in her account. Opinions of her are far from unanimous.Some remember her as a woman hungry for the limelight; others argue that without her dedication the association would not have achieved even half the impact or the goals it did, and stress that she never made any money out of the fraud.It is an 88-minute documentary portraying the Catalan woman who for years took advantage of passing herself off as just another victim.Why did nobody uncover her sooner?What the documentary sets out to do, more than track down the current whereabouts of Alicia Esteve, is to understand how she was able to sustain for six years, without arousing suspicion, a completely invented identity and trauma.The case has parallels with that of Enric Marco, the Catalan who pretended to be a survivor of the Flossenb\u00fcrg concentration camp and even went on to chair the Amical de Mauthausen before being unmasked (source in Spanish). In both cases, a narrative built out of emotive detail connected with the public in a way that the more sober real testimonies did not manage.The question the documentary leaves hanging is not only how Alicia Esteve managed to fool so many people, but what collective need allowed that lie to work for so long without anyone, not even a psychologist, questioning her story.The Survivor is available to watch from 11 September on Spanish streaming platform Filmin.<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/culture\/2026\/09\/11\/the-survivor-documentary-on-spanish-woman-who-posed-as-911-victim&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/90\/32\/93\/1200x675_cmsv2_187da155-e52f-55be-bac5-b5b5c6158087-9903293.jpg&#8221;] Europe News France joins Slovakia in asking to delist Russian oligarch Usmanov Europe News UK police ban face coverings at planned anti-migrant protest USA US commemorates 25th anniversary of 9\/11 attacks Europe News French father jailed for threatening to behead his son\u2019s teacher Europe News France joins Slovakia in asking to delist [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[90],"tags":[226,36],"class_list":["post-2140256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international","tag-crawlmanager","tag-euronews-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2140256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2140256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2140256\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2140256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2140256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2140256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}