Summer, the beach, the gazpacho, the unbearable heat, the drunkenness for a good cause and the attempt of a few municipalities to make a fool of. He has taken advantage in the ranking of Vilagarcía de Arousa, 37,000 inhabitants in Pontevedra. He has suspended the presence of the Mägo de Oz band at the San Roque parties in August for the Sarcastic Comments and some insult to Pedro Sánchez in a recent performance in Asturias. The mayor is socialist and responds to the name of Alberto Varela. Sanchez could call him to tell him that he doesn't need that kind of aid.
Varela has made an incursion into a place that is usually dominated by corporations governed by the PP and Vox. The programming of acts at the summer parties has allowed them to veto bands of music and plays, especially when the right recovered control of the City Council after elections. Immediately, they thought about how to clean the cultural agenda of all those sedental reds.
In Molina de Segura, Murcia prohibited the performance of the Shego band for a month because they act with the costumes in which they appear on the cover of their latest album: Red nun habits (With the heat it makes in summer). A PP and Vox City Council in Toledo censored a play in 2023 because the actors were in underwear and could “scandal” the public. When Almeida arrived at the City Hall of Madrid, he canceled an act of DEF with two for having been “convicted of the Supreme Court for the exaltation of terrorism” (he was later exonerated by the Constitutional Court). He took the taste of censorship and did the same with another by singer -songwriter Luis Pastor and his son, Pedro Pastor.
In the case of the previous performance of Mägo de Oz, the band's guitarist pulled creativity, not exactly musical, to release messages between song and song. Nothing for which it can be defined as an intellectual of the Frankfurt School. “I am going to tell you a thing so that this is never repeated in history and I don't care that whoever governs. Stop stealing cocaine and whores,” he claimed from the stage. It was not a public service message, but intention was understood.
The environment, euphoria and mostly legal substances consumed to take energy before the concert led him to move to the Telemadrid gathering level: “Sánchez, retweet me this shit that I want to be famous again, I shit in your dead, gilipollas.”
Sometimes, the worst is not censorship, but make a fool of them. The mayor of Vilagarcía argues that the cancellation of the concert is not for the insult to Sánchez, but for the other. “As much as humor is to be seen, frivolizations on prostitution or drug use cannot be admitted.” Forgive me, excellent Mr. Mayor, we had never seen that a music band frivolize or make hooligan comments and not appropriate for children about drugs. On the “intended humor” mentioned, no one like the mayors to evaluate what is funny and what does not.
The arrival of Vox to power in the municipalities originated a wave of cancellations, which surprised few and outraged many. “We demand the protection of our fundamental rights because without culture there is no democracy,” said a manifesto signed by numerous artists.
Everyone understands that any type of artistic representation requires considerable use of personal freedom, recognized in the Constitution. If the criterion is not to offend anyone, including political parties, only mediocrity and conformism will be promoted. In that case, half of the museums would have to be emptied.
When programming an action, a City Council is responsible for its content, so it is logical that you think about it before announcing or signing the contract. For example, if the repertoire of the hired has macho songs, there will be corporations that prefer to hire another. Or for any other reason. In the end, it is the group that governs the City Council who has the responsibility of spending public funds on these needs.
Once it takes the final step, it should stick to the consequences. If it is a theatrical company that represents a well -known work, as happened with the one based on 'Orlando' by Virginia Wolf, the mayor and the Councilor for Culture involved will only be able to stay as palettes without culture in case of suspending the act.
As José María Lassalle said, who was Secretary of State for Culture in the Government of Rajoy, “it is not Inquisition, it is imbecility.” Do not rule out that both things are a bit.
