Manu Sánchez responds from RTVE to the controversy over subtitles for the Andalusian accent: "Mothers and languages are not touched"

Manu Sánchez dedicated a good part of his monologue this Thursday on El perro andaluz to one of the television controversies of recent days: the decision to subtitle the statements of Chari Peña, mother of footballer Fabián Ruiz, in the documentary Denominación de origen broadcast by RTVE. The Andalusian communicator used the space to defend the Andalusian dialect and send a forceful message: “Mothers and languages are not to be touched.”

During his intervention, Sánchez showed his support for the mother of the Spanish international and turned her case into a symbol of a broader claim. “Today I am with Doña Chari Peña. Today Fabián’s mother is also my mother and yours,” he affirmed before the audience. The presenter insisted that the debate transcends a specific subtitling issue and affects respect for the different ways of speaking within Spain.

The program host also criticized what he considers a historical tendency to correct or point out the Andalusian accent in the media. “This Andalusian dog will not shut its mouth,” he proclaimed before denouncing attitudes he linked to “Andalusia-phobia” and “classism.” In that sense, he argued that the lack of understanding of a linguistic variety cannot be used as an argument to stigmatize it or consider it inferior.

Sánchez also stressed that he is in favor of subtitles when they fulfill an accessibility function, but rejected that they be used selectively for certain accents. “Subtitles yes, supremacism no,” he summarized. He also recalled a reflection by professor José María Pérez Orozco to vindicate the Andalusian linguistic richness, arguing that it is not an independent language, but a set of dialects with their own identity and enormous cultural value.

The presenter was especially critical of one of the explanations that emerged after the controversy, according to which interventions by Canary Islanders had also been subtitled. For Sánchez, that argument does not solve the underlying problem, but rather evidences a way of understanding certain linguistic varieties as exceptions that need to be translated for the general public.

The controversy has reached such a dimension that the president of RTVE, José Pablo López, publicly apologized for the decision to subtitle Chari Peña. A gesture that came after several days of criticism from communication professionals, institutional representatives, and numerous users on social media, who interpreted the measure as a lack of respect for the Andalusian accent.

With his plea in El perro andaluz, Manu Sánchez joined that debate, advocating for the country's linguistic and cultural diversity. “The fight against neutrality and centralism is my cause,” he affirmed during a speech that turned a television controversy into a broader reflection on identity, representation, and recognition of the different accents that coexist in Spain.