2023-07-05 20:52:24
Culture professionals have sounded the alarm at the interference of political power, actions that have resulted in cancellations and censorship of shows in recent days. The coming to power of new municipal managers after the elections on May 28 has resulted in three plays and a children’s film falling off the billboard in just one week in four municipalities governed by the PP. In two of them the Department of Culture is in the hands of Vox. In the heat of the indignation, a Free Arts Platform has been born that denounces the “return of censorship” and the irruption of ideological vetoes.
This Wednesday, social networks were full of expressions of protest that supported a statement, written in the four official languages. In the text, professionals in the field of culture deplore “the return to censorship that is violating freedom of expression, a socially and democratically consolidated right in our Constitution.” The document has the endorsement of actors, actresses and creators, such as Aitana Sánchez-Gijón; Juan Vinuesa; Barbara Lennie; Nathalie Poza; Lucia Quintana; the director Pablo Messiez; Miguel del Arco; Eleanor Watling; Juan Diego Botto, Fernanda Orazi and Maria San Miguel.
The text is supported by Luis Luque, deputy director of the Madrid Spanish Theater (attached to the Madrid City Council), or the Teatro de la Abadía (dependent on the Community of Madrid), in addition to the National Dramatic Center, an organ of the Ministry of Culture, as well as such as the National Classical Theater Company, among many other entities.
Miquel Iceta
The demands of the culture sector have received the applause of the Minister of Culture, Miquel Iceta, and the Second Vice President of the Government, Yolanda Díaz. In the networks, Alba Flores, Asier Etxeandía and Montxo Armendáriz have warned of the temptation of censorship. Apart from the messages on the internet, a group of professionals, such as Pedro Almodóvar, Joan Manuel Serrat or Rocío Saiz, have come together in a group from which a future structure will emerge to ensure that there are no vetoes.
“Ours is a fairly obvious case of censorship and I don’t think we are the last,” says Xavier Bobés, the playwright and director of ‘The sea: vision of children who have never seen it’, a play that the The new PP mayor of Briviesca has been suspended citing budgetary and security reasons. The work tells the story of a Republican teacher, Antonio Benaiges, assassinated in the summer of 1936 in Briviesca, eight kilometers from the Bañuelos de Bureba school, where he taught at the public school. According to the playwright, the decision to cancel the work, of which Alberto Conejero is also the author, tries to bring down an “important matter”, such as historical memory. The reasons invoked by the mayor of Briviesca, Javier Solas, who manages the government team with the support of Voice and Citizens, invokes “security, technical and economic reasons.” The first mayor argues that the programming of ‘El mar…’ “was not formalized firmly by the previous corporation.”
Briviescas is not the only case of alleged censorship. In Valdemorillo (Madrid) the staging of ‘Orlando’, by Virginia Woolf, was cancelled. Its producer, Pablo Hueto, attributes the initiative to the new Councilor for Culture and Tourism, Victoria Gil, who belongs to Vox. The novel, which dates from 1928, addresses taboos from the early years of the 20th century, such as same-sex love and female sexuality.
The Teatro Defondo company, which was going to premiere Woolf’s adaptation, argues that it is a “very serious event” that violates freedom of expression and culture. He also underlines what happens after the arrival at the Department of Culture of the Valdemorillo City Council of the mayor of Vox. The city council replies that Orlando is not represented for budget reasons.
In the Cantabrian town of Santa Cruz de Bezama, PP and Vox agreed to withdraw the children’s film ‘Lightyear’, programmed by the previous socialist government. The Pixar film recreates the adventures of Buzz Lightyear. The tape talks about a relationship between two women, with a kiss included. Its international premiere last year made headlines because the film was censored in 14 countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait.
And in Palma de Mallorca, where the PP governs, the three shows of ‘Nua’, a text by Ann Perelló on eating disorders, have been deprogrammed. According to Perelló, the work is not to the liking of the new authorities.
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