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Spain: The kiss and the culture war

Football boss Luis Rubiales' kiss after Spain's world cup victory set a match to Spanish gender relations. Sofia Bettiza hears how the case tapped into a rift in Spanish society.

When Spanish football boss Luis Rubiales kissed Jenni Hermoso after her team’s world cup victory last summer, it set a match to Spanish gender relations. On every chat show, on every campus, in every couple’s bedroom, arguments started - does a kiss count as sexual violence? What is consent? Has feminism gone too far? 53% of Spaniards think it has, and that it is discriminating against men. Now, Rubiales is facing criminal trial. β€œSe acabó” (it’s over) trended after the kiss, but this battle is far from over. For Assignment, Sofia Bettiza travels to Madrid to hear how the Rubiales case tapped into a rift in Spanish society that has been splitting further apart for decades.

Presenter: Sofia Bettiza
Producer: Ellie House
Series Editor: Penny Murphy
Studio Manager: Neil Churchill
Production Coordinator: Gemma Ashman

(Image: A protester holding up a red card reading β€œ1 Feminisme - 0 Masclisme.” Credit: David Ramos/Getty Images)

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27 minutes

Last on

Sun 4 Feb 2024 16:06GMT

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