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Pic of the day: Merkel piggybacks Spain's PM

Alex Dunham
Alex Dunham - [email protected]
Pic of the day: Merkel piggybacks Spain's PM
Las Fallas in Valencia pays tribute to St Joseph, patron saint of carpenters. Photo: José Jordan/AFP

Out of all the impressive paper-maché statues built for this year's emblematic Fallas festival in Valencia, one stands out for its degree of political satire and wit.

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Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has been caricatured alongside German chancellor Angela Merkel in a situation which is meant to epitomize the current relationship between both EU leaders and their countries.

The ninots, as these cardboard figures are known, show the German leader piggybacking her Spanish counterpart, who is fully dressed in a bullfighter costume while holding a pair of bull's testicles.

It's not the first time Merkel has been depicted in these giant structures known as Fallas.

Last year, she was caricatured as a schoolteacher telling her scissor-clenching pupils (Rajoy, Finance Minister De Guindos and Deputy PM Sáenz de Santamaría) how to make cuts.

If this year's 'piggyback' ninot is awarded top prize, it will be the only one not to be burnt in the traditional bonfire which forms part of Valencia's most internationally known festival.

The tribute is made every March 19th, St Joseph's Day, patron saint of the carpenter's guild.

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