Controversy Erupts Over LGTBI Book Removal In Spanish Library

A recent incident in Burriana, Castellon, has sparked a heated debate and raised the question: Is censorship creeping into Spain’s libraries?

On Wednesday, September, 27, Jesus Albiol, the Councillor for Culture of Burriana, to the north of Valencia and a member of the Vox party, confirmed the removal of LGTBI-themed books from the children’s section of the municipal library. This move was met with strong criticism, particularly from the Compromis municipal group, who labelled it as ‘censorship,’ writes 20 Minutos.

Protecting Minors Or Censorship?

Albiol defended the decision, stating it was in compliance with article 20 of Law 4/2011, of March 23, on Libraries of the Valencian Community. This law mandates that books discussing sexual diversity, gender, or sexual development should be placed in a specific adult section, especially in libraries in cities with more than 25,000 inhabitants, like Burriana.

‘It is our duty to protect minors, the most vulnerable, and to keep them away from books with content that could be classified as pornographic and that are not suitable for their age’, Albiol asserted.

Accusations Of Perversion

The Vox councillor accused left-leaning parties of attempting to ‘pervert minors with scandalous books with explicit sexual content’. He emphasized that such content is not educational and has been infiltrating both school and municipal libraries. ‘Children are children and childhood must be protected’, he added.

Response

Compromis, a coalition advocating for Valencianist, progressive, and ecological politics, vehemently opposed this move.

Vicent Granel, the municipal spokesman for Compromis, argued that the decision was made unilaterally, without any technical report. He accused Albiol of wanting to propagate his ideas while suppressing others, reflecting ‘hatred that a diverse society arouses in him’.

Previous Controversies

This isn’t the first time Albiol’s decisions have stirred controversy. In July, he faced backlash for withdrawing subscriptions to five Valencian or Catalan magazines, leading to public protests and eventual reinstatement of the magazines.

Freedom To Choose

Granel maintained that the removed books simply explained very basic concepts to children. He accused Vox of trying to limit the freedom to choose reading material in the library. ‘We are going to ask for a technical report from the municipal library to endorse a decision that we think censors children from books that’, according to Granel, only inform and explain and ‘do not attack, or bite, or anything similar to what the councillor thinks of censorship’.