| Spain Papers Review - Monday April 9 2007
El Mundo leads with a new opinion poll, and with an increase in support for the Government overall, the paper chooses to headline with the number that 75% call on the Government not to give in to the blackmail of ETA over Batasuna standing in the local and regional elections. It comes after ETA warned that if Batasuna were not in the elections it would mean the failure of the peace process. El Mundo has a photo of Batasuna spokesman, Arnaldo Otegi, and says ETA has offered ‘a promise of no violence'. El Pais has the headline that the Government and the PNV Basque Nationalist Party have closed ranks against Batasuna, following the threats by ETA. The paper says the Prime Minister is calling for the Ley de Partido election law to be adhered to. La Razón considers that ETA has launched an ultimatum to the Government to get Batasuna to be able to stand in the elections.
A different 'Barcelona' worth the trip
Some would argue the phrase "kid at heart" is little more than an absurd clich, but don't tell that to Emmanuel Lundgren, singer-songwriter of the 29-piece indie collective I'm From Barcelona. For him, the unbridled joy and simplicity of childhood is now more relevant than ever in our modern, cynical world. Not to imply that Let Me Introduce My Friends is a political album - rather the opposite, as Lundgren constructs an idyllic world in which petty politics are absent and uninhibited emotions take center stage.
I'm From Barcelona's massive size draws immediate comparisons to the similarly gargantuan Polyphonic Spree, but in reality the band is more akin to the indie pop scene that's enjoying some mainstream attention, partly because of the blogosphere adoration for bands like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Boy Least Likely To and the "life-changing" Shins.
Erotic filmmaker granted public funds
A filmmaker in Spain is being granted public funds to make a series of erotic films, the Sunday Telegraph reported. The grant, which totals nearly 10,000 euros ($14,000), was approved by pro-separatist authorities in the Catalan region in northeast Spain as part of their efforts to promote the Catalan language. The films -- "The Sea Is Not Blue," "Laura Is Lonely" and "The Memory of the Fish" -- are all in Catalan. The grant has resulted in a public uproar, with many saying the films are an inappropriate and degrading way to spend public money. "To give public funds for pornographic films when in Catalonia, like the rest of Spain, there are people in terrible conditions, is an error bordering on misappropriation of state money," said the Spanish daily newspaper ABC in an editorial.
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