THE mayor of the Costa del Sol town embroiled in an anti-Semitism row after an effigy of Benjamin Netanyahu was blown up at an Easter festival has defended the spectacle as a tradition dating back over a century.
Israel’s foreign ministry summoned Spain’s chargé d’affaires for a formal reprimand earlier this week after a seven-metre-tall puppet of the Israeli prime minister was detonated in the town of El Burgo, near Malaga, during Semana Santa celebrations.
The towering figure was packed with 14kg of gunpowder before being obliterated to pieces amid whooping cheers from the packed crowd.
But local officials have hit back at accusations of anti-Semitism, instead insisting that the stunt is a long-standing Easter ritual rich with over one hundred years of history.
“We did not, in any way, expect this reaction. This has been going on for a century and we didn’t think it would come to this,” town mayor Marilo Narvaez told SER Malaga.
This year’s display prompted a furious reaction from Israel, with the country’s foreign ministry condemning it as an act of ‘appalling anti-Semitic hatred’, which it blamed on ‘systemic incitement’ by the government of Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez.
“We are by no means anti-Semitic, not in the slightest,” said Narvaez. “We are an open, welcoming and peace-loving community.”
The mayor said the effigy represents the negative things people wish to leave behind in the past, with the decision chosen to use an effigy of Netanyahu.
“We decided to create a puppet condemning genocide and war. I don’t think there has been anything more relevant this year,” Narvaez explained.
“Next year, we will continue with our traditions.”
The incident marked another sharp escalation in the already-strained relationship between Spain and Israel, which has continued to deteriorate amid a succession of conflicts in the Middle East.
Under Sanchez, Spain has been an outspoken critic of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, with a number of leading figures in his government accusing the country of carrying out a genocide.
Tensions strained further after Spain vetoed the use of two airbases in Andalucia jointly operated with the United States for ongoing US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
In early March, Spain recalled its ambassador from Tel Aviv, leaving only a chargé d’affaires in place.
Last Thursday, Israel also slammed Spain for reopening its embassy in Tehran, accusing Madrid of aligning itself with what it called the ‘Iranian terror regime’.
