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Hasél graffito by the Catalan artist Cinta Vidal (in Cardedeu near Barcelona): Favorite enemy Juan Carlos
Photo: NACHO DOCE / REUTERS
Pablo Hasél's new video begins with a message from the king.
The spectators see Felipe VI.
on a stage behind a lectern.
"Without freedom of expression and information," says the king, "there is no democracy."
And then Pablo Hasél gets going.
"Tyrant, this isn't just for your father," he says.
Hasél raps about a state that does not serve its citizens and about the revolution that the state cannot stop.
He calls Felipe the King a "fascist", and the botox on the queen's face is also discussed.
Hasél calls for the »guillotine«.
Pablo Hasél published the video "Ni Felipe VI" last Friday, the day on which he was due to begin his prison sentence.
The Audiencia Nacional, a court also responsible for terrorism, had sentenced him to nine months in prison.
The verdict said that he glorified terrorism and insulted the Spanish crown.
Instead of starting his sentence, he barricaded himself with friends at the university in his hometown of Lleida.
When the police came to get him, a supporter attacked the officers with a fire extinguisher.
Pablo Hasél wished the "fascist state" dead and held up his fist.
Then he allowed himself to be led away.
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Supporters of Pablo Hasél before his arrest: »Guillotine«
Photo: Joan Mateu / AP
Since then, thousands of people have been demonstrating on the streets for his release.
There are street battles every night.
It has long been about more than just Hasél's case.
His condemnation sparked a widespread debate in Spain about artistic freedom.
The question of whether the Spanish state restricts freedom of expression too much is debated.
Even the coalition of socialists and left-wing alternatives are arguing: Does Spain have a problem with democracy?
Hasél defended terrorists and violence against politicians
Pablo Hasél's real name is Pablo Rivadulla Duro and describes himself as a communist.
The 32-year-old comes from Lleida, a stronghold of the independence movement in the Catalan hinterland, his father was the president of the local football club.
Before his arrest, Hasél was mainly known in the left-wing alternative hip-hop scene.
Since 2005 he has released more than 50 songs.
But Pablo Hasél is actually hardly a hero.
In texts and tweets, Hasél Richter names Nazis and fraternises with terrorist groups such as Eta or the RAF.
He described the mayor of Lleida as a "liar who deserves a shot".
He wishes conservative politicians someone "put a shot in the neck".
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Rapper Pablo Hasél: It's not just the lyrical self that gives out
Photo: PAU BARRENA / AFP
He insults King Felipe's father, Juan Carlos I, as a “parasite”, “mafioso” and “murderer”.
The judiciary already sentenced Hasél in 2018 for inciting Juan Carlos, he is something like Hasél's favorite enemy.
In interviews, the rapper defends his calls for support for terrorists that he himself is not a member of an armed gang.
His fight is art.
But it's not just his lyrical self who gives out.
A court convicted him of attacking a Catalan journalist.
Another sentence was confirmed on Thursday.
Hasél could have to serve two and a half more years, according to the verdict he stepped and threatened a witness in a court case.
Pablo Hasél becomes a symbolic figure
The demonstrators obviously feel that this is secondary.
From their point of view, Hasél's case makes it clear how the judiciary systematically restricts freedom of expression.
The Audiencia Nacional, the competent court, has been a popular meme for years.
Especially polemical tweets are used to ironically warn against criminal prosecution.
Young Spaniards in particular marched through the city centers on Thursday for the third evening in a row, demanding freedom for Pablo Hasél.
In Valencia and Barcelona in particular, barricades burn every night and cobblestones fly at police officers.
More than 100 people have already been injured, most of them police officers.
Many of those arrested are minors.
The crackdown by the police is likely to intensify the protests.
In Madrid, officials pushed a group of young protesters to a shop window and beat them, although people could not evade.
In Barcelona, a protester lost her eye after police hit her with a foam bullet.
One photo shows the young woman sitting on the floor, the corona mask under her chin.
Blood oozes from her eye.
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Protests against the imprisonment of Pablo Hasél: »Shot in the neck«
Photo: NACHO DOCE / REUTERS
200 Spanish artists support the demonstrators.
Actor Javier Bardem and director Pedro Almodóvar have signed a manifesto in which they compare Spain with countries like Morocco and Turkey.
According to the Danish NGO Freemuse, Spain is the state that imprisons most of the world's artists.
The Mallorcan rapper Valtònyc fled to Belgium because of texts similar to Hasél.
The law that undoed Valtònyc and Hasél is now at the center of the debate.
The conservative People's Party tightened Article 578 of the Criminal Code in 2015, which criminalizes the “glorification of terrorism” and the “humiliation of the victims”.
The law is exceptionally broad and has since been used in over 70 proceedings.
Not only artists are prosecuted on the basis of the law, also less prominent Twitter users, such as the history student Cassandra Vera, who joked about a victim of terrorism.
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Protest couple in Barcelona: Many of the protesters are teenagers
Photo: Emilio Morenatti / AP
Artist hits two sore points of the Spaniards
Hasél's case also mobilizes so many people because the rapper addresses the two major conflicts in Spanish society in his lyrics: Catalan independence and the dispute over the monarchy.
Both offer connection points to the most diverse groups in Spain: Hasél is committed to Catalan independence.
He criticizes the Spanish state with arguments similar to those of the separatist leaders.
In the protests, at least in Catalonia, the symbols of the separatists can often be seen.
more on the subject
Direction dispute in Catalonia: Split separatists by Steffen Lüdke, Barcelona
Spanish politician acts as a reconciler: "In ten years of the Catalonia conflict, we have achieved nothing" An interview by Steffen Lüdke, Barcelona
Icon: Spiegel Plus Rise and fall of Spain's old king Juan Carlos I: The last macho by Helene Zuber
Juan Carlos I, Hasél's favorite enemy, is also seen by many young leftists in Spain as a thief rather than a guardian of democracy.
He fled to Abu-Dhabi because of a corruption scandal, and the scandal has given the Republican camp a boost.
Many demonstrators feel that Hasél is being persecuted mainly because of his political views.
One of the biggest critics of the monarchy is Vice President Pablo Iglesias.
For years he himself raised the mood against the political "caste".
Before the Catalonia elections last Sunday, he said that there was no democratic normality in Spain.
Now he sees himself confirmed.
Despite the violence, his party does not distance itself from the protests.
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Violent protests: the barricades burn every night
Photo: NACHO DOCE / REUTERS
Iglesias is now a member of the government with his left-wing alternative party Podemos, but his party will now submit a pardon for Hasél.
The socialists are appalled by Iglesias provocations and point to studies that clearly identify Spain as a democracy.
They also want to reform Article 578.
In the future, there should at least be no longer any prison sentence for words like Pablo Hasél's.
But Podemos is fueling the protests even more.
For the party, it's also about showing its own supporters that the coalition has not given up its own ideals.
In his new song Hasél describes Iglesias as "domesticated".
One can only guess that he didn't find it really funny.
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