Update: at 14:05 today the mayor’s office issued a press release confirming that Fernando Sanchez Drago will not be the town crier as originally contracted. A replacement candidate will be announced in the coming weeks.
Ronda’s mayor Antonio Marín Lara has announced that Fernando Sanchez Drago, a noted journalist and television presenter will be town crier during the 2011 Perdo Romero Feria and Corrida Goyesca, however the decision is sparking controversy as Sanchez Drago has confessed in his latest book that in 1967 he had sexual relations with two minors whilst in Japan.
The Pedro Romero Feria is the largest of the many festivals that occur in Ronda every year, and along with Carnival, is the only time of the year when the Recinto Ferial (fairground) becomes a child’s dream wonderland with themed atractions, rides, and every sweet imaginable on sale.
The town crier is the person, always well respected in within the Spanish community who announces the events at the opening of the Feria, and who presents the Damas Goyescas to the people of the city.
Sanchez Drago as choice is raising eyebrows and has resulted in an online campaign centred on Facebook to have him stripped of this honour after revelations came to light in El Pais of a page in his latest book “Dios los cría… y ellos hablan de sexo, drogas, España, corrupción…” where he admits to sexual relations with minors aged 13 whilst in Tokyo in 1967.
A campaign has begun in Madrid initiated by the staff of Radio Television Madrid (RTVM), and the unions CCOO, UGT, and CGT to have Sanchez Drago removed from his post as presenter on TeleMadrid’s Las Noches Blancas, whilst concerned Madrileños have called for a police investigation into Sanchez Drago’s book confession.
In Ronda, a Facebook campaign has been started aiming to spread the word that Sanchez Drago has been selected by the mayor, and calling on the mayor to revoke Sanchez Drago’s contract, and to find a more suitable town crier without the stigma of having admitted to sexual offenses against minors.
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