In Spain, a split over award-winning film 'The Sea Inside'

Published: 2005-02-04

BARCELONA, Spain (CNS) -- Spanish historians often refer to what they call "the two Spains" to depict the country's historic social and political division: One Spain is Catholic and supposedly anti-liberal; the other is liberal and supposedly anti-clerical. If reactions to Alejandro Amenabar's latest feature film about euthanasia are anything to go by, the two Spains are still very much a reality. In the United States, "The Sea Inside" -- the story of how a Spanish quadriplegic struggles to be granted the right to die -- won the Golden Globe for the best foreign film in mid-January. On Jan. 25 it received an Oscar nomination for the best foreign-language film. To many in Spain, the film promotes what they see as a humane, progressive cause. To the "other" Spain -- especially the Spanish Catholic Church, which in line with Catholic teaching opposes assisted suicide -- it is a piece of anti-clerical, pro-euthanasia propaganda.

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