A figure resembling Donald Trump was shot and burned as part of an Easter Sunday celebration in a major European city. The effigy was marched through the streets before being hung from a tree, shot at and set alight.
It has been a tradition in the town of Coripe in Seville, Spain, for centuries to string up a well-known figure on Eastern Sunday. The figure is meant to be a “Judas” character whose actions are considered reprehensible by the locals.
This year, the effigy was of the US President Donald Trump. It was made by the mothers of students at the Iripo Primary School in the town.
Video footage shows the Trump figure dressed in a dark navy suit and red tie with his recognisable blonde hair. It was led through the town at gunpoint before being hanged from a tree. It was then shot at with rifles from close range as crowds of local people watched on.
The controversial tradition is known as the Quema de Judas and has been declared an Andalusian Festival of National Tourist Interest. It remains one of the most important days in Coripe and also consists of a procession of the Resurrected Christ and gun salutes.
According to the Tourism Seville website, the tradition “represents the satirical punishment of humankind’s most despicable acts”. It adds: “Corruption and murder, among others, are burnt at the bonfire of justice.”
It also explains: “The Judas is brought to the square accompanied by the traditional ‘cabezudos’ and gunmen. Once the effigy is hanging from a fig tree next to the church, the town’s gunmen shoot the image with blank ammunition until it is completely burnt.”
There are similar traditions, which also involved the burning of effigies as protest, in other parts of Spain and Latin America. This year, Trump effigies were also burned in Alfaro and in parts of Mexico alongside those of Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu.
