At the end of the performance, while a Palestinian flag was being projected, a statement was read that began: “We strongly condemn the genocide that the State of Israel is perpetrating against the Palestinian people. This is a statement being read in theaters throughout Spain.”
The mayor of Torrelodones accused the company of using the municipality’s cultural program to engage in politics.
“The play was a comedy for all audiences that explored how social and economic factors shape tastes. The people of Torrelodones went to see a comedy; what they didn’t expect was to end up watching a political tirade,” Almudena Negro said.
By EJP staff
The Council of the Spanish city of Torrelodones, which is part of the Madrid community, has sanctioned a theater company with a 10% reduction in payment after a Palestinian flag was displayed and a protest against Israel was read aloud at the end of a performance that had been booked as a comedy suitable for all audiences, Jewish media in Spain Enfoque Judío reported.
City Mayor Almudena Negro stressed that the decision was not based on the company’s political stance but rather on the fact that a municipal space was used to introduce a political intervention that was not part of the contracted performance.
The incident, which occurred on December 13, 2025, has now come to light after tv channel Cadena SER reported on the municipal decision. The play’s director, Argentine playwright Daniela Fejerman, maintains that this is a case of censorship and that the contract did not impose any restrictions on freedom of expression.
At the end of the performance, while a Palestinian flag was being projected, a statement was read that began: “We strongly condemn the genocide that the State of Israel is perpetrating against the Palestinian people. This is a statement being read in theaters throughout Spain.”
The mayor reacted immediately after the performance and accused the company of using the municipality’s cultural program to engage in politics. In a message addressed to Fejerman, she described the action as an “abuse of trust.”
Torrelodones’ explanation centers on the purpose of the contract. Negro explained to Enfoque Judío that the municipal legal department determined that the contracted amount should be reduced by 10 percent because they considered that the company had strayed from the purpose for which it had been hired.
“The play was a comedy for all audiences that explored how social and economic factors shape tastes. The people of Torrelodones went to see a comedy; what they didn’t expect was to end up watching a political tirade,” the mayor said.
She compared the situation to booking a children’s play and ending up with a political speech. ”It makes no sense. That’s straying from the agreement.”
Negro also points out that Fejerman had requested authorization to hold a rally in Torrelodones in support of Palestine and that the City Council did not prevent him from doing so. “In Torrelodones, I will not allow the theater to be used for political expressions that were not part of the contract,” she insisted.
The case takes on a special significance because it occurred at a time when the Palestinian issue has been gaining increasing prominence in Spanish culture. Since October 7, 2023, numerous artists and cultural institutions have participated in campaigns and issued statements against Israel over the war in Gaza.
At the same time, Spanish Jewish organizations have denounced that some of this discourse has at times gone beyond legitimate criticism of the Israeli government’s policies and has led to messages demonizing Israel and expressions considered, in certain cases, to be anti-Semitic.
The controversy surrounding Torrelodones lies precisely on that line. What is not in question is an artist’s right to publicly defend the Palestinian cause, but rather whether he may incorporate a political statement of that nature at the end of a performance funded by a public administration when such an intervention was not part of the contracted show.
Daniela Fejerman is an Argentine director and playwright of Jewish origin with ties to left-wing circles, which adds complexity to a controversy that could be superficially interpreted as a clash between a pro-Israel mayor and a pro-Palestinian Jewish artist.
Fejerman, who is an Argentine director and playwright of Jewish origin with ties to left-wing circles, has accused the City Council of acting arbitrarily and said that “there was nothing in the contract that restricted freedom of expression,” pointing out that events commemorating the Holocaust had been held at the same theater, during which, he explained, the State of Israel was defended.
Negro considers the comparison with the Shoah seems “indecent,” because “when the Holocaust is commemorated, everyone knows what to expect. When you go to see the play she had put on the bill (…) you don’t expect a political tirade,” she argued.