Spanish views from a small town

When it is called an offense to photoshop a picture of your face over the face of a figure of Christ, and you are punished with an almost five hundred euro fine, you know a thin red line has been crossed somewhere. The figure of Christ belonged to a Brotherhood, one of many that carry their figures on Holy Week. When one of its members saw the photoshopped face on Instagram, he asked the person who had done it to take it down. The person ignored the petition; he wasn't intending to harm anyone, just having some fun. The Brotherhood then went to court. The photoshopper was found guilty of offending religious sentiment, and fined €480. The guy, a victim of the new economy, worked at temporary, low paying jobs, and didn't have the money. A crowd funding on internet raised the money for him. The news created an outpouring of photoshopped Christs on social sites. That there is a law against offending religious sentiment is as medieval as a law can get. How does it fit in with an e...

These past few days a puppet show has taken Spain by storm. It's called La Bruja y Don Cristóbol and is a satire meant for adults. It's produced by a little-known company called Títeres Desde Abajo, from Granada. The members are all libertarian anarchists. They propose freedom from the four pillars of control that, according to them, stifle individual freedoms and force society into enslavement. Those pillars are the Church, the judiciary, the landowners, and the police. Yes, this sounds like something from the beginning of the twentieth century, but some people still believe that. The puppet show is about a witch, who is first accosted by the landlord, who rapes her. She has the child, and a nun comes and tries to take it away from her. The nun fails and dies in the ensuing fight. Then, the policeman comes and beats the witch senseless. To frame her, he places a placard next to her hand with the phrase "Gora Alka-ETA". Then she is brought before the judge, who conde...