Gijón woke up on Saturday with gray skies and a few drops of rain, but that did not stop fans of bands like Lehendakaris Muertos or El Drogas from coming to the Castro Brothers Park to dance, jump and form some pogo. There were mohawks, earrings and rock. “I take the opportunity to defend the officiality of the Asturian”. And the audience burst into applause.. This edition of the musical event, which has been held in the city since 2017, was in the eye of the hurricane for this issue.
Vox's entry into the local government after 28M caused the organizers of the festival —with a mostly left-wing audience— to meet with the number two of this political formation, Oliver Suárez. They took a photo all together at the party headquarters and it spread through networks. It was then that the brawl broke out among the fans of this event. In addition, the current councilor for festivities, Sara Álvarez Rouco, declared that she did not defend the official status of the Asturian language. The drop that filled the glass. This is one more episode of the events in recent weeks due to the entry of Vox into the government in different regional and municipal executives.
“The hecatomb broke out,” Oliver Suárez points out to this newspaper. Two bands got off the poster for relating the musical appointment with said party. Mario, an activist, explains his discomfort to El Confidencial: “The Tsunami is a festival for anti-fascists, at least we thought so.” There are those who are more lax. A representative of the Asturias insubmissive association explains that before the Tsunami was more dangerous, but that it is “normal that as they grow and become more widely known, things change.”
Isaac and Paula are right at the entrance of the festival. They had been trying to go to the Tsunami for years and they finally succeeded. They position themselves regarding what happened. “What I did not like is that the meeting was held at the Vox headquarters and not in the town hall,” the man from Gijón told this newspaper.. For his part, Santi, who wears a T-shirt with a slogan that says “there is no place for fascism”, explains that sometimes you have to jump through hoops. “In the end, one way to demonstrate what we think is by coming to the festival. The City Council is what it is”.
What really happened at that meeting? Who summoned her? Why was it done at the Vox headquarters and not in the consistory building? The number two of Vox in the city and president of Divertia (the municipal company that manages all cultural events in Gijón), Oliver Suárez, explains what happened to El Confidencial: “Ramón, Iván and David —the organizers of the festival, also to the in front of O Son do Camiño and the Resurrection Fest— contacted me to meet me. The relationship with the previous director of Divertia was not very fluid, let's say. We spent two hours talking, first at the Vox headquarters and then having a coffee. We did not go to the town hall building because we still did not have the assigned offices”.
The war started. “Those at the festival even received threats from radicals who call themselves Democrats,” Suárez continues.. And two bands decided to withdraw from the festival. The Elite and Stranjis Guajes. “These are not moments for communications, but for actions,” said the first, a duo that mixes punk, new wave and electronics. “We have decided not to play at said event […] That they meet at the Vox headquarters is humiliating.” From the promoter of the event they claim to be exhausted with this event. In addition, they also clarify how the closing of the event was done with the previous team and they hope that the festival will take place without incident. “I don't feel responsible or involved,” says Suárez regarding what happened.
28M turn
Gijón always had a tendency to the left. “A part of the population did not expect Vox to enter the government,” reflects the political scientist from Gijón, Eduardo Bayón. This can explain, in a certain way, the reactionary and sharp attitude of those who protested against that famous meeting.
Since Spain held its first democratic municipal elections, the Asturian city has been under socialist control —except between 2011 and 2019, when Foro Asturias governed, a split from the Popular Party—. On 28M there was a script twist. The most voted list was the PSOE, but the sum of the right-wing forces managed to win the consistory. The plummet of Podemos favored that the left was not able to add enough seats.
The result was that the Vox candidate, Sara Álvarez Rouco, was left with the department of celebrations. Theatre, cinema and music. Basically, those of Abascal have control of the entire artistic spectrum of the Asturian city. “Everyone who speaks what he wants. Galician, Celtic or Saharawi; but public money should not go to sponsoring ideologies,” Suárez told this newspaper.
However, there are those who walk away from all this mess. A young man drinks a calimocho in front of the stage. “We come for the music,” he says.