Another week, another Spanish comedian being legally threatened by the Spanish state:
A court in Madrid is investigating the Catalan comedian Dani Mateo for a TV gag during which he blew his nose using the Spanish flag. The entertainer has been summoned for this coming Monday.
The police union Alternativa Sindical Policial pressed charges against Mateo for hate crimes and insulting Spanish symbols, accusations that then triggered the investigation.
If convicted Mateo could face a year in jail.
Being able to mock the state and its symbols is an essential part of freedom of speech in a democracy. And the sorts of countries that ban it? They're the sort of places that jail rappers for their lyrics, charge people with "rebellion" for peacefully advocating independence, or beat people for trying to vote. In other words, not democracies at all.
