The comedians of TV3's Està Passant program, Toni Soler, Judit Martín and Jair Domínguez, will have to testify in court as defendants for the gag about the Virgin of the Rocío. A judge from Sant Feliu de Llobregat has accepted the complaint presented by the ultra-conservative association Abogados Cristianos and has summoned the participants of the parody to testify on October 27.
According to the interlocutory to which this newspaper has had access, the judge considers that the facts referred to "may be constitutive of a crime of insults, and for this reason it is appropriate to carry out as preliminary proceedings the essential ones aimed at determining the nature and circumstances of the fact, the people who participated and the applicable procedure".
The parody, which satirized the Virgin Mary's sex life and used an Andalusian accent, unleashed an avalanche of criticism against the program and against TV3. Even the Andalusian president, Juanma Moreno, came to speak, denouncing that the gag was "a lack of respect". The Catalan bishops also expressed their displeasure at the broadcast of the parody. In a statement they regretted that the sketch "hurts the sensibilities of many people and particularly those of all believers who, under this invocation of the Virgin, keep their faith and their religious traditions".
He pointed out that he was protected by freedom of expression and ruled out its withdrawal, as the PSC, Vox and Ciutadans groups had demanded, which they considered "offensive to believers and to Catalans of Andalusian origin". The complainants, Abogados Cristianos, consider that the parody attacked religious sentiments.
Toni Soler and Jair Domínguez already had to appear in court after being denounced by Mossos d'Esquadra unions for another gag in which they compared the officers to dogs for their actions in the post-sentence protests. This case was closed. The case that the National Court opened in 2013 against Domínguez for insulting the Crown after appearing in a sketch in which he pretended to shoot a photo of the King was also dismissed. Other comedians have also been brought to justice for parodies. Willy Toledo was tried for having "shit on God", and Dani Mateo was tried for having made fun of a Spanish flag.
