The Outlawed Beauty of Cats
Do not mention all cats are beautiful to a police officer in Spain. You might get fined up to 600 euros for insulting him. That's what happened to a woman walking home last Sunday in Madrid.
It just so happened that she lived near the stadium Vicente Calderón where people were lined up waiting for the doors to open to watch a soccer game. It wasn't just any game, it was the final of the King's Cup between Sevilla and Barcelona with the King in attendance. Police were crawling all over the place and two of them saw a woman walking by with a large bag. On the bag there was a picture of a cat within a circle. Around the circle was written "All Cats Are Beautiful." Above this were the initials "A.C.A.B." That incensed the police officers.
They went running after her, stopped her, and gave her a fine for the initials on the bag. She argued that the initials were spelled out in the circle and meant nothing denigrating. They didn't buy it and fined her anyway. Trying to explain that her bag was not an insult, she decided to shut up because she didn't want the officers to arrest her for challenging them. But she took her outrage to social media, and complained bitterly about the Gag Law that made such situations possible.
What the police were looking at were only the initials. Those initials were originally coined by football hooligans and skinheads in the 70's and stand for "All Cops Are Bastards." If someone is seen wearing something with those initials within a football stadium they will be escorted to the door. But those initials originated within the rarefied world of hooligans and their animosity toward the police who tried to make sure there was no confrontation between the fans of different teams. Wearing those same initials with an explanation of an entirely different meaning while walking calmly down the street is not an insult to the police or an intent of violence.
The good thing is the judge understood that and threw out the fine. Now someone should throw out the Gag Law, too.
It just so happened that she lived near the stadium Vicente Calderón where people were lined up waiting for the doors to open to watch a soccer game. It wasn't just any game, it was the final of the King's Cup between Sevilla and Barcelona with the King in attendance. Police were crawling all over the place and two of them saw a woman walking by with a large bag. On the bag there was a picture of a cat within a circle. Around the circle was written "All Cats Are Beautiful." Above this were the initials "A.C.A.B." That incensed the police officers.
They went running after her, stopped her, and gave her a fine for the initials on the bag. She argued that the initials were spelled out in the circle and meant nothing denigrating. They didn't buy it and fined her anyway. Trying to explain that her bag was not an insult, she decided to shut up because she didn't want the officers to arrest her for challenging them. But she took her outrage to social media, and complained bitterly about the Gag Law that made such situations possible.
What the police were looking at were only the initials. Those initials were originally coined by football hooligans and skinheads in the 70's and stand for "All Cops Are Bastards." If someone is seen wearing something with those initials within a football stadium they will be escorted to the door. But those initials originated within the rarefied world of hooligans and their animosity toward the police who tried to make sure there was no confrontation between the fans of different teams. Wearing those same initials with an explanation of an entirely different meaning while walking calmly down the street is not an insult to the police or an intent of violence.
The good thing is the judge understood that and threw out the fine. Now someone should throw out the Gag Law, too.
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