Spain’s Socialist Politician Calls for Removal of Barcelona’s Christopher Colombus Statue After Anti-Racist Protests

Spain’s leading socialist politician Jessica Albiach has called for Christopher Colombus’ statue to be removed from Barcelona, following anti-racism demonstrations in the Catalonian city.

MORE than 250 protestors took to the streets yesterday, demanding that the controversial statue be taken down. The 60m (197 ft) tall monument to Christopher Columbus is located at the lower end of Barcelona’s La Rambla area, and was constructed in 1888 in honour of Columbus’ first voyage to the Americas.

However, Albiach stated that “Barcelona should not continue to honour someone who was responsible for colonisations and genocide,” adding that “Spain suffers from racism as much as the US.” However, Albiach has been told to soften her radical views by members of the Catalonian regional government. As a result, she has backtracked and said the statue should be “contextualised” instead.

Spain’s stance on “controversial colonial-era statues” appears to echo that of France. In a speech to the nation yesterday, French President Emmanuel Macron rejected racism, but said removing statues are not the answer, as he refused to remove the country’s colonial-era figures, as reported.

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Pepi Sappal

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