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🇪🇸 Spain /Culture & Society

‘Salvados’ explores Rita Barberá’s rise and fall through television, opera and Valencia’s fallas

From El País · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • The opening episode of Salvados’ 18th season examines Rita Barberá’s rise, 24-year tenure as Valencia’s mayor and political collapse.
  • The program presents Barberá as a popular but controversial figure whose career reflected both the practices and darker sides of political life.
  • Former regional president Francisco Camps discusses Barberá’s influence and rejects as false a report that she received Louis Vuitton bags through the Gürtel corruption network.

Salvados has opened its 18th season with a double program about Rita Barberá, combining the language of television, opera and Valencia’s fallas to tell a story of rise and collapse. The episode revisits a politician who won five absolute-majority victories and governed Valencia for 24 years, from 1991 to 2015.

the mayor of Spain

· Supporters of Rita BarberáThe phrase describes how Barberá was celebrated after winning five absolute-majority elections in Valencia.

The choice of Barberá has drawn criticism on social media from viewers who asked why the program did not focus on other current issues, such as Ceuta. Presenter Gonzo and creator Jordi Évole have defended the decision by saying the show is not daily current affairs, needs time to prepare its subjects and does not follow the loudest demands on social networks. They also point to the 10th anniversary of Barberá’s death in November.

Barberá died alone in a luxury hotel room after being rejected by the party she helped found. Yet the program also recalls her extraordinary popularity. She was celebrated by supporters as “the mayor of Spain” and remains revered by part of Valencian society. Her contagious laugh and natural ease made her appear like one of her neighbors, even as she operated as a formidable political figure.

false

· Francisco CampsCamps rejects the allegation that the Gürtel network gave Barberá Louis Vuitton bags.

The episode explores Barberá’s central role in the Popular Party, beginning with its predecessor Alianza Popular. It also highlights her support for Mariano Rajoy’s rise within the party. Francisco Camps, the former president of the Generalitat and a product of Barberá’s municipal political network, repeatedly recalls her influence.

hypocrisy

· Rita BarberáBarberá used the word while criticizing the acceptance of gifts by politicians, officials and journalists.

Camps features in one of the program’s sharpest exchanges. When Gonzo reminds him that Barberá faced controversy in 2009 over Louis Vuitton bags allegedly given to her by the Gürtel network, Camps rejects the claim as “false.” Gonzo responds that Barberá herself had acknowledged receiving gifts and criticized “hypocrisy” in public life. Camps says he does not remember that press conference because he was busy with “my own things.” The program ends on a more personal detail: Barberá told journalist María Consuelo Reyna that the most valuable gift she had received was a “white truffle” flown in from Italy on a businessman’s private plane.

my own things

· Francisco CampsCamps says he does not remember Barberá’s press conference about gifts.
About this summary

Originally published by El País in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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