Nebulossa: How offensive is Zorra? (What Really Happened at Eurovision? Episode 6)

We’re just hours away from crowning the winner of the Eurovision
Song Contest 2024. But one of the more controversial acts in its
home country is not a firebrand pop princess but a middle aged
couple singing under the moniker 'Nebulossa'. Their electro-pop
anthem 'Zorra' has caused a stir in Spain as it attempts to
reclaim the word ‘Vixen,’ often used as a slur to mean something
like ‘bitch’ or ‘slut.’ "'Zorra' is partly autobiographical; it
reflects women’s experiences of feeling marginalized and
underestimated. Nebulossa’s María "Mery" Bas told Wiwibloggs, 'We
decided to craft this song as a form of therapy.' 


The use of the word though (47 times throughout the 3-minute
song), has even divided Spain’s feminist movement, with some
arguing it’s a powerful reclamation of the word, while others say
it's derogatory.


'The problem is that this song is going to represent the country,
and it's going to say, Europe, hey, guys came to Spain because
there is plenty of sex. And this sex is related to prostitution,
wherein many women are being exploited,' Eva Neila Ausín of
Spain’s Feminist Movement of Madrid Group explained to the What
Really Happened podcast. The Feminist Movement of Madrid caused
controversy in Spain following a public row with Spain's main
feminist movement, the 8M Commission, over its support for trans
rights legislation. 


With regards to Zorra, the debate has become so intense that even
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez weighed in. 'It seems to me that
feminism is not only fair but also fun; this type of provocation
necessarily has to come from culture,' he told Spain’s La Sexta.


 It hasn’t fazed the band much. ‘The criticism has been
minimal compared to the overwhelming positive reception we’ve
received. Nebulossa’s Mark Dasousa told us. 


In this episode of “What Really Happened at Eurovision?” We delve
into the story of how a middle aged couple from coastal Spain
exposed an existential fracture in Spain’s feminist movement and
what it says about where the country is culturally today.