GUADALAJARA (Mexico), December 4 (EFE).- Singer Juan Manuel Serrat sparked a controversial moment in Mexico on Thursday when he angrily abandoned a talk for a few minutes that was one of the most anticipated activities at the Guadalajara International Book Fair, held in this city, although he later returned to the stage in front of an audience eager for his stories.
The singer left the Juan Rulfo Hall, which was opened to its maximum capacity, but that was not enough for the thousands who had gathered hours before to see the artist up close, who arrived in Guadalajara at the head of the Barcelona delegation, the guest of honor of the exhibition.
Sirat (81 years old) left the lecture 10 minutes after it began because the shouts of those left outside the hall did not allow him to hear his mediator, the Mexican writer Benito Taibo.
He said emphatically: “Thank you all very much. I have traveled many kilometers to be here today. It has been an exceptional day for me. Very excited, but it is impossible for a work of emotional depth like this to exist with a noise like the one there. It is not my fault. Forgive me. Good evening.”
Outside, behind the glass windows that separated the main entrance to the fairgrounds from the main hall area, people were shouting in annoyance: “Let us in, let us in!”
Although the talk was aimed at meeting young people, the majority of people who attended the expo were senior citizens who were hoping to be able to see Sirat at one of the few public events he had planned at FIL.
Once he took the floor, he said: “Greetings to those outside, who unfortunately cannot sit in this room. Thank you for coming here and I hope that together we can make us listen to each other in the best possible way.”
After the mediation of Taibo himself and the organization of the exhibition that completely closed the doors of the hall, Sirat returned in a different spirit, but not before making sure that the audience remained calm.
The “Penelope” singer’s return was welcomed with applause, and to brighten the mood, he chose to talk about football.
Serat confirmed that he stopped being a Necaxa fan to switch to UNAM Pumas, the same team as Taibo, making them laugh with the singer for the first time.
After that, the conversation flowed to include topics such as the beauty of the Mediterranean Sea, although he stressed that this region has “the most polluted and exploited sea” that witnessed the flight of hundreds of migrants, becoming “a huge coffin.”
He added: “Unfortunately, it must be said that Europe did not act with solidarity or generosity in this matter, but rather condemned thousands of these involuntary migrants, as migrants always do. No one leaves the home in which he was born to go to a life that does not know what awaits him elsewhere.”
With some annoyance, the composer drew attention to a woman who asked to speak to ask a question, seconds before he asked to use the microphone to speak to the younger audience.
“Ma’am, ma’am, do you not understand or are you coming in disguise?” He said in a sarcastic tone.
The meeting also contributed to providing advice to young artists on how to live during adolescence, as well as to talking about the rise of right-wing governments in the world.
“The right and far right are sending messages to the majority of humanity that is trying to discredit democracy and the representative system by basing it on another miracle system in which people become rich through opportunities that appear from who knows where,” he declared.
Sirat will receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Guadalajara on Friday, and the Guadalajara City Council will hand him the keys to the city on Saturday.