Horya Shimaa

Horia Sima is a Romanian fascist leader encountered at a gathering attended by fugitives and other notorious figures sheltered in Francoist Spain. His brief appearance turns on a pointed contrast: the man Manuel Arroyo Benítez sees looks more like a Carthusian monk than the supreme leader of the Iron Guard, a discrepancy that makes Sima’s outward reserve seem incompatible with his political biography.

Identity and Appearance

At the gathering, Sima strikes Manuel as shy. His appearance suggests a Carthusian monk rather than the head of the Iron Guard, the Romanian fascist movement he led. The description offers no further account of his history or beliefs; instead, it sets his subdued manner against the notoriety attached to his leadership.

Encounter with Manuel Arroyo

Manuel meets Sima while moving through a reception and greeting a gallery of famous criminals. Sima’s quietness makes him stand out among the gathering’s guests, but the scene gives no conversation between the two men and records no action by Sima beyond his presence. Manuel’s reaction is an assessment of incongruity: the reserved figure before him does not seem to match the political role he knows Sima holds.

Narrative Significance

Sima’s brief appearance contributes to the reception’s wider contrast between respectable social presentation and the guests’ criminal or extremist histories. Manuel registers the gap between Sima’s monk-like exterior and his standing as leader of the Iron Guard, as he does the identities of the other figures around him. The scene therefore presents Sima less through an individual arc than through the danger and concealment embodied by the gathering itself.