‘Israel’ boycott threats push Allianz out of Spanish festival

• Allianz has suspended its sponsorship of Madrid's Festival de las Ideas after more than 20 cultural figures, including director Rodrigo Sorogoyen, threatened to skip the event over the insurer's ties to ‘Israel’.
• The signatories argued Allianz is the world's largest buyer of ‘Israeli’ state bonds and demanded the festival cut ties with any company "collaborating" with ‘Israel’, now or in future editions.
• The sponsorship, reportedly worth around €124,000 and including a branded stage at Plaza de España, ended by mutual agreement; the festival said it wanted to avoid "external controversy" overshadowing its programme.

Allianz has suspended its sponsorship of one of Spain's top cultural events after celebrities threatened a boycott over the German insurance giant's ties to ‘Israel’, organisers said Tuesday.

"Allianz is today the world's largest buyer of Israeli state bonds and, therefore, an essential financial backer of the ongoing genocide," more than twenty prominent writers, filmmakers, and musicians said in a joint statement.

The signatories, who include Oscar-nominated director Rodrigo Sorogoyen, presenter Inés Hernand, writer Alana S. Portero, and singer Rodrigo Cuevas, said they would put their participation in Madrid's Festival de las Ideas "on hold" unless the event committed to "not accepting economic support, in this or future editions, from companies that collaborate with the State of Israel in the destruction of the Palestinian people." 

Philosopher Paul B. Preciado and musician El Niño de Elche were also among those who signed the statement.

The festival, run by organisers La Fábrica and Círculo de Bellas Artes, announced that it had agreed with Allianz to suspend the sponsorship, ending a partnership that reportedly amounted to around €124,000 and included a branded stage at Plaza de España, one of the event's most visible venues.

"Both parties agree that the festival should continue to be a space dedicated to the free exchange of ideas, open debate and the diversity of opinions without any external controversy diverting attention from its programme, participants or audience," the festival said in its statement. 

Organisers told Europa Press the decision was made "jointly," with their priority being that the public could still enjoy the event, and acknowledged that finding a replacement sponsor with only 48 hours' notice would be "difficult, if not impossible", meaning the festival itself will absorb the financial shortfall.

Allianz, for its part, pushed back on the accusations. "We firmly reject the accusations against our company and stand by our responsible business practices," the insurer said in a statement carried by Spanish media.

The four-day festival, which runs from Thursday through Sunday and features acclaimed British novelist Zadie Smith among its participants, went ahead as planned following the sponsor's withdrawal.

The episode has already had political ripples. Madrid's mayor, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, said the city council would "totally and absolutely" reconsider its support for the festival in future editions, arguing that Madrid is a city open to the free debate of ideas and questioning whether a sponsor should be pushed out over participants' criticism. 

He said the council would take no action this year because agreements were already signed, but that its collaboration would be reviewed going forward.

The Palestinian cause enjoys widespread public support in Spain, whose Socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has been one of the most vocal critics of ‘Israel's’ offensive in Gaza.

Last week, Spain joined eleven other countries, including Ireland, in announcing sanctions on trade with ‘Israeli’ settlements in the occupied West Bank amid a rise in settler attacks on Palestinians there.

The Madrid controversy echoes similar disputes elsewhere in Europe. 

In Ireland, the Gaelic Athletic Association has faced calls from some of its own members to end Allianz's three-decade-long sponsorship of its Gaelic football and hurling leagues; a GAA Congress session was disrupted in February after protesters entered the hall at Croke Park. 

Last month, however, the GAA's Central Council and Management Committee voted overwhelmingly to maintain the Allianz partnership rather than end it.

 In the UK, festivals including Latitude, Download, and the Isle of Wight similarly cut ties with sponsor Barclays in 2024 after artists withdrew over the bank's links to ‘Israel’.

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