A sporting side note (Memín Pinguín)

For me what's interesting to watch is the reaction in the press, as Mike suggested. In El País I noticed a couple of headlines such as "No es un gesto de racismo"--carefully couched as a quotation--where the corresponsal definitely seems on the side of the players. I'd like to read reactions by Spanish intellectuals if anyone finds any.

The "ojos chinos" polemic, if we can call it that, reminds me of the Memín Pinguín debacle. A couple of years ago the Mexican postal system published commemorative stamps of the beloved comic book hero from the 50s, sparking protests from Jesse Jackson and very quickly a diplomatic complaint from the Bush White House to Fox's government. Mexican intellectuals cried cultural imperialism, adducing Speedy González as an analogous case--and no Mexican could be bothered to be offended by him, it was suggested. Carlos Monsiváis described the situation with a certain cynical ressentiment in El universal: "Ver para descreer. El gobierno estadounidense, en su infatigable tarea de policía moral del planeta, desembarca en las playas de la minucia y descubre el Ku-Klux-Klan filatélico." And he's about as far left as you can get and still be in the mainstream. He defends the Mexican postal service against charges of racism: "La razón de ser de la historieta son las peripecias de un grupo de niños, y el tema/problema central no es la epidermis 'tatemada' sino la clase social. A Memín se le chotea pero no se le excluye, y los chistes son los inevitables. ¿De dónde vienen, entonces, las acusaciones de 'racista'?" Memín has been in the news recently (July 10) because apparently Wallmart has decided to carry the entire, re-released series.