No one escapes the sharpness of the lyrics of carnival groups, but the PP of Seville at least tried, until the controversy sparked and their own comrades from Cádiz, the main stronghold of Carnival in Andalusia, pushed them to give up.
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The party in Seville filed and then withdrew a complaint before the Zone Electoral Board to prevent “lyrics with political allusions” from being heard and “political opinion of any kind” from being expressed during the performance of a choir, a chirigota, and two comparsas at a Carnival day organized in Alcalá de Guadaíra (Seville, 77,474 inhabitants) this coming Saturday, coinciding with the reflection day before six and a half million Andalusians can go to vote for their Parliament.
The complaint, accessed by EFE, was filed by the PP of Seville to warn that some groups announced on the Carnival Festival poster had lyrics in their repertoires that, despite being “legitimate political criticism,” could violate article 50 of the Organic Law of the General Electoral Regime (LOREG) as the event was held the day before the vote.
The PP’s request led the Electoral Board to open proceedings on the Carnival Festival, where groups from the Cádiz Carnival such as the choir El Sindicato, the chirigota Una chirigota en teoría and the comparsas DSAS3 and Las Jorobadas, are scheduled to perform, considering that they were going to sing politically charged lyrics. The first of these comparsas is by author Jesús Bienvenido and stood out in the last Concurso del Teatro Falla, the main carnival contest in Andalusia, for making a harsh critique of the Andalusian healthcare situation.
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The request by the Seville PP has caused controversy not only among parties opposing the PP but also opposition from the party itself in the cradle of Andalusian Carnival, Cádiz. The mayor of the Andalusian city, Bruno García, of the PP, stated at noon this Thursday that he learned of the request this very morning through Cadena SER and asked his party colleagues to withdraw the complaint. “When I became aware of the information, I called directly the leadership of the Popular Party of Seville,” he said in a press conference. García expressed “loudly, from Cádiz and very firmly and clearly” that for him “Carnival is freedom, it is the expression of a people and it is never out of place.” “What it does is add,” he concluded.
The PP of Seville’s request has generated a wave of outrage from parties such as Adelante Andalucía and Transport Minister Óscar Puente, who labeled it censorship. After the controversy, the Alcalá City Council, controlled by the PSOE, maintains the celebration of the carnival recital and the program of performances as planned.
