MADRID – Riots broke out in many Spanish cities this week during freedom of speech protests over the jailing of a little-known rapper for insulting the Spanish monarchy and praising terrorism.
But the issue has now become a hot potato for the country's coalition government, with the far-left junior partner demanding that the rapper be pardoned — while criticizing police for alleged brutality.
WHO IS PABLO HASÉL? Up to a few weeks ago, Hasél, 32, was not quite a household name in Spain. An acid-tongued, anti-establishment rapper, he's considered a poet by some and a punk by others.
A supporter of Catalonia's secession from Spain, he has had several brushes with the law, which earned him more than one sentence although he had yet to be