Civil War drama stirs up Spanish sensitivities

Creator of ‘The Wire’ fends off claims his new series will reopen old wounds and display political bias

THE creator of the US TV drama, became embroiled in a bitter dispute in Spain yesterday after announcing that he is working on a series about the Spanish Civil War.

David Simon had to fend off claims that he was stirring political conflict by reopening historical wounds after the announcement of the project with the Barcelona-based Mediapro group in Variety magazine.

The civil war and the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco remain a deeply sensitive issue in Spain, where an amnesty law implemented after the transition to democracy in 1978 has for decades smothered investigation into the regime years. The issue has become highly politicised during the push for Catalan independence.

The drama series, A Dry Run, will follow US fighters in the Abraham Lincoln Battalion who went to Spain to fight the fascists in the 1936-39 conflict.

Simon said in Variety that the war and the “maelstrom” that followed still had global resonance. “When the Spanish Republic was threatened, capitalism chose tyranny. So the better men who could not abide that choice came to Spain [to fight]. Today, that same choice confronts us again”.

While the project was welcomed by figures such as Pablo Iglesias, the leader of the Left- wing party Podemos, critics accused Simon of political bias and of wading into domestic sensitivities he did not understand. Many comments online focused on the politics of Jaume Roures, Mediapro’s chief executive, who as a young man was involved with Catalan communist groups that opposed the Franco dictatorship and has advocated for Catalonia’s right to self-determination.

One Madrid-based Twitter user claimed the project would be used by Mediapro and Roures to “try to start another Civil War in Spain”, saying it was a “very sad episode … that should not be taken lightly”. Simon retorted that he was “aware that many in Spain would prefer no reflections on the past,” adding: “Absolute national amnesia is the path preferred by some. But I trained as a journo, so no sale on that.”

Simon denied suggestions that he could be used for anti-spanish propaganda. “If you think it matters who funds my storytelling, please tell some Spanish nationalists to put up half the money. Their political influence on the narrative will carry as much relevance. Or lack thereof,” he said.

Mr Roures has always rejected claims his views influence the work of Mediapro, which has produced Woody Allen films including Midnight in Paris and Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

♦ At least one woman was arrested for “rebellion and terrorism” in Catalonia yesterday over violent clashes and road blockades involving pro-independence activists, the Spanish government said.

Juan Ignacio Zoido, the interior minister, said an investigation had begun into more than 300 violent acts in Catalonia, with some allegedly by radical Catalan separatist groups formed to campaign in the referendum last October.