In recent days, social networks have been filled with images of the events that occurred this Friday on the Leioa campus, in Biscay, the largest of the UPV/EHU, the Basque Public University. The videos show a teacher being escorted by private security guards amid screams from students. But the event requires more context, since the teacher was sending messages praising the Franco regime and with sexist, xenophobic and homophobic content. Faced with the scale of the controversy, the Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities of the Basque Government, Juan Ignacio Pérez Iglesias, spoke out on Sunday. On Radio Euskadi, he considered that “harassment is unacceptable, especially in the university context”, but he also considered that the professor’s comments should be studied because they seem “incompatible” with academic “ideology”.
The controversy broke out on Friday. The teacher had class in Leioa at 11:30 a.m. and a demonstration had been called. Hours earlier, the youth organization Sortu, Ernai, posted a video on Instagram of two people spraying red paint on the door of the UPV/EHU law faculty office and painting the word “fascists » on a window. In a statement, they criticized the teacher and the establishment for hiring him.
According to what emerges, at 11:15 a.m., he went to class normally but was no longer able to leave. A group of people prevented the students from entering and the exit of those already inside. The University explained, as reported by EiTB, that the confinement lasted two hours and that it also affected other colleagues who had come to its aid. He also notes the existence of “screams and threats”. Around 1:15 p.m., he was able to leave escorted by private security agents and, again, “amid aggressive and violent attitudes”. Ertzaintza, which has its central base near the campus. She was warned and went to the scene, but did not intervene.
Councilor Pérez Iglesias, who was rector of the UPV/EHU, stressed that it was time to “reject” the escrache. “Harassment, intimidation or aggression are unacceptable in any circumstance and particularly in the university context,” he said. Pérez Iglesias also spoke about the messages that this professor repeated on social networks and also pointed out that they seem outside the “ideology” that should govern the University. He understands that if someone considers them criminal, they must follow the appropriate legal channels, although he admitted to not knowing the details of these messages.
The inappropriate content led X (Twitter) to suspend the professor’s first account. Then he created a second one which ended up being just as closed. Now it works on a third party, as users of this platform explain, even though there have been no updates for months. However, there are still screenshots and recordings of the type of messages he sent. Among this material, we find numerous references against the right to abortion and against those who exercise or defend it. An example: “Women who support abortion, who exclude the father and despise life, daughters of whores. Have you already scrubbed like I ordered you to the other day? If you see a stain on a plate or a glass, you will see what is good. Convict the crime and give birth, bitches. Long live Spain, pigs. He is also an advocate of the death penalty and mentions that he would like to “beat up” people from certain groups he meets on the street.
There are different messages of apology from Francoism and Spanish ultranationalists. “Should I answer the question of whether I prefer a Franco government or this government with its amnesty,” he wrote, among other examples. There are also insults against the current mayor of Irun, the socialist Cristina Laborda, and her predecessor, José Antonio Santano, now Secretary of State for Transport, as well as her children and his family. There are also criticisms of this newspaper and its homophobic content. “Many Basque PPs come across as idiots. Is it fashionable to play fagot to win votes or what? Don’t count on me because I’m going to ruin you. Before I become a sissy, I’d rather die. I already threw your ballot in an oil can,” he wrote. There are more personal references to PP leaders in Gipuzkoa. The professor also had accounts on other social networks where he also got in trouble for overstepping the rules of decorum.
