David Uclés withdraws from an event about the Civil War due to the presence of José María Aznar and Iván Espinosa de los Monteros | Culture

The writer David Uclés has announced in a video for social networks that he will not participate in the event 1936: The war we all lostcoordinated by Arturo Pérez-Reverte and Jesús Vigorra, within the Letras en Sevilla festival, which is celebrated from February 2 to 5 in the Andalusian capital.

The reason is the presence on the same poster of the former president of the government José María Aznar and the former general secretary of Vox Iván Espinosa de los Monteros. “I saw that on the poster, in addition to writers or columnists, there were politicians who have tripped up democratic values ​​and measures that make us a modern and empathetic society,” the author of The peninsula of empty houses and brand new winner of the Nadal award.

Antonio Maíllo, coordinator of Izquierda Unida, has also canceled his attendance, as he announced in a statement on social networks, for not agreeing with how the events have been disseminated: it gives the impression, in his opinion, that the participants share the thesis of the title.

Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, former Minister of Justice, also on the poster, dislikes Uclés’ policies regarding abortion. To Aznar, the Iraq war, “which had disastrous consequences.” For Espinosa de los Monteros, his past in a party, Vox, “which today is threatening democracy and tranquility in our country, whether by proclaiming xenophobic harangues that end in episodes like that of Torre Pacheco, whether by censoring literary acts – as happened to me on three occasions -, whether by wanting to remove laws in favor of the right to abortion or equal marriage, which have cost us so much. So many atrocious things… The most serious thing: weaving a plot in TikTok to convince teenagers to vote for them, putting the Face to the sun”.

Uclés also has comments on the title of the cycle, which spreads the idea that they lost the war all the Spanish, whatever side they were on. “I think the correct title would have been the war that we suffer all, which is what I defend in my book, where I deal with the intra-history of the conflict. But we didn’t all lose it. There is a very important nuance: the war was won by the same people who provoked it, and they profited from it for 40 years,” says the writer.

“That title does a disservice to the country’s historical memory and what really happened. It also gives the impression that all of us who appear on the poster agree with that idea, as undersignedand I know first-hand that this is not the case.” For Uclés these issues are especially sensitive, given the theme of the novel that has catapulted him to literary stardom in record time, with more than 300,000 copies sold in 28 editions. Among the other participants in the events are the historian Julián Casanova, the journalist Edu Galán, the filmmaker Alejandro Amenábar, the minister Félix Bolaños, the sociologist Zira Box, the writer Paco Cerdá, the actor Juan Echanove or the president of the Council of State Carmen Calvo also focuses on parity: 27 men and only 6 women.

In recent times, Uclés has been at the center of controversy, of several controversies: due to what some consider its overexposure in events and media; for his abandonment of social network X, considering it a “nest of fascists”; for his change of publisher, from Siruela to Planeta, upon winning the Nadal award; and even for his characteristic beret. In fact, Pérez-Reverte himself, who coordinates the event, spoke in an interview on Canal Sur Radio about this matter: “I think he is a very interesting boy, Uclés. He is smart, too. He is very clever. He gives the image of a small-town boy, with the beret. I like him, I like him,” said the creator of Captain Alatriste, who also praised his novel.

Why did Uclés agree to participate in the event? He attributes this to the large number of requests that the publisher’s press team, and he himself (who seems to have the gift of ubiquity), have to deal with. They did not devote enough attention to the nature of the act before enlisting: “There I sing the my fault”, concludes Uclés.