The mayor of Barcelona and leader of the Commons, Ada Colau, has come out in defense of TV3 for the controversy that has aroused its parody about the Virgen del Rocío. "Just as there is freedom of expression to make humor, there is freedom of expression to criticize the gag as much as it is considered," argued the leader of the commons in the colloquium of the informative breakfast of the Forum Europa-Tribuna Cataluña, organized by Nueva Economía, when asked about the controversy.

Colau has thus answered the question of what he thought of a parody in the program "Està passant" in which an actress appeared dressed as the Virgen del Rocío with a doll in her arms simulating the baby Jesus in which he joked about the procession at Easter, his sex life and his Andalusian accent. One of the controversial moments of the television gag is when the actress Judit Martín dressed in iconography of the also known as the White Dove, says: "I have not been able to throw a dust as God commands for 200 years because while I take off my dress they have already taken away my desire".

This parody provoked, among others, the reaction of the president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, who wrote on his Twitter account: "Humor is one of the hallmarks of our land, but to have grace it is done with respect and affection. It is disrespectful to Andalusia, and to thousands of Andalusians and their traditions. I hope that to ask for forgiveness they know how to do better."

In this controversy he wanted to tertiate Colau, to side with the comedians of TVE. "A democratic society cannot question freedom of expression," he said. He has also defended that you can "make humor even if it can hurt sensibilities" and that "whoever feels offended or considers that he has to criticize it, can criticize it, but not defend a censorship system."

Colau has pointed out that "in the media there are often many things that can hurt many minority groups that, on the other hand, do not have institutional speakers to denounce it" and "you do not hear that institutions are scandalized", as in this case. Of course, the mayor of Barcelona has specified that saying this "does not mean that you like the gag".

  • Barcelona
  • Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla
  • Ada Colau

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