Figures from the world of letters, art, cinema, journalism and Spanish music yesterday showed their support for the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, in an event together with the leaders of CC.OO. and UGT. At the event, “decency” in democracy was vindicated because “the country is in a dangerous moment,” as actress Marisa Paredes said, and they took a stand “against the culture of hate.” Among the attendees were also the director of the Cervantes Institute, Luis García Montero, the writer Benjamín Prados, the singer Miguel Ríos, as well as the theater director José Carlos Plaza, the actresses Loles León and Nathalie Poza and the president of the Círculo de Bellas Artes de Madrid , Juan Miguel Hernández León.
The meeting took place in the packed Marcelino Camacho auditorium, and also had the support of filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, who could not attend because he was in New York finishing shooting his next film, but who sent a letter that Marisa Paredes read, in which appealed to “wake up” from “the nightmare and stupor” and organize some act of support for Sánchez.
The event began with the intervention of the general secretary of CC.OO., Unai Sordo, who said that in Spain the aim is to “normalize the kidnapping of one of the three powers of the State”, clarifying that he was referring to the judicial power, while His UGT counterpart, Pepe Álvarez, defended that Spain and culture want to “live in freedom.”
The call was made without acronyms in order to accommodate different political sensitivities. García Montero was in charge of reading the manifesto titled “For democratic decency,” in which he warned that “the culture of hate, impudence and lies endanger democratic coexistence.”
The text included a denunciation of “a self-serving policy of tension” caused by sectors “that do not accept the electoral results” and that “confuse the opposition with institutional degradation and the political debate with insult and perpetual scandal.” In addition, it was warned that the strategy of generating “unfounded suspicions about public and private lives” is intended to “hide discussions and differences about health, education, taxation and labor relations.”
