14.4.�016 – �7.4.�016 ISLAND CONNECTIONS 769 15TENERIFE GENERAL

yOUtUber UPsets Parents

Paedophile jokes prove costlyA famous Spanish Youtuber and blogger could be in hot water after his controversial children-geared show in a Ten-erife theatre triggered a flood of complaints due to explicit

sexual references, including to paedophilia. ismael Prego, who goes by the name of Wismichu on his sites, stunned the Guimerá theatre in santa Cruz with multiple refer-

ences to child sex and simula-tions of anal penetration and masturbation. the string of blue jokes and other sexual references proved embarrassing for accom-panying teachers, including

elena de la rosa, who is quoted in one paper as saying she had “never heard anything like it in all her life”. One mother of a 10-year-old child complained that a clear warning should have been

inserted on the tickets for the show. the outcry sparked by the explicit content has since led several theatres in spain to cancel Prego’s show, which is on a nationwide tour.

in tenerife, santa Cruz council has formally asked the Pros-ecution service to investigate whether the youtuber commit-ted an offence by, in its words, glorifying paedophilia. n

sPlasHy, Messy MayHeM

Fabulously fun Festival of ColoursHoli, also known as the Festi-val of Colours, is a spring cel-ebration practiced by Hindus around the world.in the south of tenerife, this year’s Holi Festival was staged at the main square in Fañabé, and thousands turned up to revel in the colour, music and high jinx.Holi is an important cultural and social event and is pri-marily practiced in india and nepal. in recent years the fes-tival has spread to other parts of the world as a spring cele-bration signifying love, fun and colour. it is a free-for-all party where participants chase and paint each other with coloured powder and water. some carry water guns and hurl water-

filled balloons into the crowd of messy, giggling partygoers. anyone and everyone is fair

game; friend or stranger, man or woman, adult or child!the event was organised by the Hindu association of south tenerife along with the adeje borough council and took place

on april 3 at midday. there were stalls selling traditional indian foods, drinks, souvenirs

and bags of coloured powder to hurl at passersby! Proceeds made during the day will go to various social causes.Fañabé’s heaving plaza set the stage for the afternoon’s rev-

elry, which lasted until 6pm, and dJ’s, singers and per-formers provided pulsating

rhythms for the hordes that arrived. this wasn’t a festi-val to wear your best clothes

for! even curious bystand-ers, seemingly unaware of the event beforehand and merely

observing from the sidelines, were thrust into the fray. if you go to a Holi celebration, you will be approached – and those advancing are likely to be brandishing coloured powder, water or both. similarly, you will get drenched – there’s just no avoiding it! Curious groups nearing the plaza were daubed and splashed as soon as they stepped one foot into the unof-ficial watery-war zone.

an abundant supply of the liq-uid was on hand, useful for splashing a nearby stranger or

reloading your water gun, and organisers stood in the centre of the plaza with hoses, drench-ing anyone within range!adults and children alike adored the splashy, messy mayhem of it all. Well done to the organisers for putting on a great afternoon of not-so-clean fun and intro-ducing a Hindu cultural event to many new people. n

Unless otherwise stated, pho-tos by Lee Bullen

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