The Alpedrete City Council has announced that the La Cantera Cultural Center will have the ‘Teatro Francisco Rabal y Asunción Balaguer’ event hall, after criticism received for the name change of two spaces in the town dedicated to both artists.
It is worth remembering that the City Council has decided that the House of Culture, baptized with the name ‘Asunción Balaguer’ in 2015, will be renamed ‘La Cantera’ and the square where it is located will be renamed ‘Paco Rabal’ – received in 2001- for ‘Plaza de España’.
According to the mayor of Alpedrete, Juan Rodríguez (PP), this decision occurs on the occasion of the commemoration of the 184 years of history of Alpedrete as an independent municipality, which is celebrated this Friday with an event in which the names will be changed .
“In no case has it had political significance and has nothing to do with historical memory, a file has simply been opened for said changes and we hope that a resolution is reached as soon as possible to proceed with said requests,” the mayor added.
However, after the criticism received, the City Council has announced that during the inauguration of the La Cantera Cultural Center, which will take place after its remodeling and expansion, the name ‘Teatro Francisco Rabal y Asunción Balaguer’ will be given to the assembly hall, “honoring the memory of the illustrious neighbors, and thus linking them to the culture of the municipality and to each function held in the place.”
“With this decision, the memory of this endearing couple and wonderful actors will be in the corners and tables of our Theater,” assured the Alpedrete City Council.
The children of actors Paco Rabal and Asunción Balaguer have expressed their “absolute” rejection of the decision of the Government of Alpedrete (Madrid), of PP and Vox, to change the name of two places dedicated to Paco Rabal and Asunción Balaguer.
It is an “act framed within the revanchism and historical revisionism in which the extreme right is committed,” as stated this Thursday in a statement by the film director, screenwriter and writer Benito Rabal Balaguer and his sister, the singer and presenter. Teresa.
Benito and Teresa maintain that “there is no reason to support the decision” of the city council, unless it is “the well-known progressive thinking of both actors and their communist militancy, which never prevented them from sharing friendship and affection with those who thought of the same.” differently.”
In the political sphere, criticism has also been expressed, as has been the case of the PCE, which has assured that this name change is “completely unacceptable”, since both Rabal and Balaguer “are historical figures of Alpedrete” and “resided for for many years in the municipality and they were very dear neighbors.”
After learning of this decision, the AISGE Foundation has promoted a public campaign to collect signatures through the change.org platform “to prevent the mayor, from the PP, from consuming the petition of his government partners from Vox,” according to a statement. this Friday in a note the entity.
AISGE urges all its partners and lovers of culture and the immense cinematographic and theatrical legacy of the Rabal Balaguer family to join this request. At the moment, there are almost a thousand and a half signatures collected.
