The director of the Festival of Ancient Music of the Pyrenees, Josep Maria Dutrèn, met this week with the mayoress of Ripoll, Sílvia Orriols, and with the battalion lieutenant and councilor for Culture, Sports, Education, Youth and Children, Albert Santandreu , to announce the festival's intention not to continue organizing concerts in the Ripollès capital.
In this way, FeMAP made its decision public, which is motivated by the "incompatibility" of the policies of the new team of the City Council government with the values of "social justice, integration and respect for human rights" that they claim to promote.
As reported by the Festival, the meeting was held with great cordiality. They explain that the City Council has respected the decision and has thanked the management for notifying the first municipal authority before making it public. On the other hand, they acknowledge that they have been told that if there is a change of opinion, they will have the doors of the Consistory open.
The Early Music Festival has made this decision after almost 10 years of relations with Ripoll. This municipality joined the contest in 2014, when the first concert was held. Since then, the Festival has organized every year concerts, complementary cultural activities, tourist packs, promotion of Km0 Ripolles products and activities for the Guifré Foundation within FeMAP Social.
Sílvia Orriols, mayoress of Ripoll since the last elections of May 28, has spoken through Twitter. Orriols has harshly charged against the Festival since she considers that it is "scandalous that a publicly subsidized music festival sets itself up as a court of the inquisition and judges and punishes the people of Ripol for having used their right to vote." At the same time, she has addressed the organizers and warns that they "do not abandon" Ripoll but that they abandon "neutrality and professionalism".
