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.
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.
Translation of tweet:
"...causing embarrassment...how pathetic the 'Ciudadgramers' are..." — el Dissortat
"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
"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
"The political content of C's is this, provocation. Nothing more" — Teresa Roig
"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.