The Catalan town of Vilafranca del Penedès, south-west of Barcelona, is holding its Festa Major. As usual, one of the star attractions at this town's annual festival has been its castells (human towers) contest, but this year, between the dramatic construction and dismantling of the castells, someone tried to add a different image. The sole member of the municipal council from the anti-independence Ciudadanos party, Eladio García, took out a Spanish flag while he watched the human towers from the city hall balcony. None of the fellow councillors and dignitaries beside him on the balcony so much as batted an eyelid at García's gesture, but the members of the public, below in the square, booed loudly and called for him to leave. After awkwardly trying to unfurl his flag next to the pro-independence estelada flag on the balcony, García bundled it up in one hand, while also shaking a fist at the townspeople below. The video shows the moment.
Regidor de Ciutadans a la plaça de Vilafranca, provocant pic.twitter.com/ENrNkAMTse
— CatalansFentVia (@CatalansaMurcia) August 31, 2019
The initial response to the gesture was heard live in Vilafranca del Penedès - but later, social media also had its say on the Cs councillor's gesture.
... provocant vergonya... què patètics són els Ciudadgramers...
— el Dissortat 🎗 (@el_Dissortat) August 31, 2019
Translation of tweet:
"...causing embarrassment...how pathetic the 'Ciudadgramers' are..." — el Dissortat
Què hagués passat si en un ajuntament espanyol hagués sortit algú així, però amb una estelada ?
— Joan Etorri 🖕 (@joan_etorri) August 31, 2019
Estaria viu?
"What would have happened if someone in a Spanish town had done something like this, but with a pro-independence 'estelada' flag? Would they still be alive?"— Joan Etorri
Dons està be, ha quedat claríssim el rebuig de Vilafranca del Penedès per aquest drap. S’ha quedat solet, solet ...
— Màxim Costa (@_FormenteraLife) August 31, 2019
"Well it's good, the rejection of Vilafranca del Penedès for this rag was very clear. He was left all on his own..."— Màxim Costa
El contingut polític de C's és aquest, provocació.
— Teresa Roig (@Nena_Mone) August 31, 2019
Res més
"The political content of C's is this, provocation. Nothing more" — Teresa Roig
S'ha confós amb Vilafranco...doneu-li un GPS
— Xavierb (@xavi6227) August 31, 2019
"He confused the name of the town with Vilafranco... give him a GPS"— Xavierb
Ciudadanos was the least-voted party to win representation on the Vilafranca del Penedès council in the recent elections, with Eladio García as the party's only councillor there.