politicians now use crude language in Spain, where insulting others has become 'an institution' and an increasingly common part of everyday life, as the daily El Pais put it.

'The other day, I let fly at a collaborator, telling him he was a son of a bitch,' Spanish 'teletrash' celebrity Belen Esteban said in a recent interview.
Such language could be attributed to Esteban's lack of education and provocative attitude, but she is far from being the only Spanish public personality to talk that way.
Even some politicians now use crude language in Spain, where insulting others has become 'an institution' and an increasingly common part of everyday life, as the daily El Pais put it.
'Stupidity and vulgarity' are becoming socially acceptable in a phenomenon which will end up undermining Spain as a society, philosopher Emilio Lledo said.
Analysts speak of deep sociological changes, the full meaning of which is not yet clear.
Many people attribute the phenomenon to the quality of Spanish television channels, some of which are widely regarded as being among the trashiest in Europe.
A large part of their programming consists of gossipy programmes or talk shows on which the likes of Esteban - former girlfriend of a bullfighter - hold millions of viewers in thrall by lambasting others and by revealing details about their private lives.
The more mud participants sling at each other or at people not present at the programme, the more audiences soar.
'If there is no controversy, there is no spectacle,' writer Juan Marse said.
The outrageous language used by television celebrities is believed to influence that of ordinary people, and has even spread among politicians, who say things that would have been almost unthinkable a decade ago.
One Socialist mayor, for instance, called voters of the opposition conservatives 'dumbfucks.'
Another mayor sparked a scandal by making ambiguous remarks about Health Minister Leire Pajin's 'thick lips.'
Spaniards' frequent use of insults and swear words upsets many immigrants from Spanish-speaking Latin America, where such language is not used in public.
'The Spanish language is becoming impoverished' in the mother country, which once implanted its tongue across the Atlantic, a Colombian journalist complained.
'It is as if speaking well were pretentious,' actress Nuria Espert told El Pais.
The acceptance of offensive attitudes is also reflected in the growing number of gossipy magazines which focus on the defects of celebrities whom paparazzi catch off guard.
'Demi (Moore) the ugly one,' the latest issue of In Touch screamed in a headline. Such publications do not shy away from dwelling on any details, ranging from cloth stains to hairy armpits.
Disrespectful as such gossip may seem, analysts also see it as representing a partly healthy rebellion against the traditional hypocrisy of glossy reports on the perfect lives and looks of the rich and famous.
'We all have defects - even celebrities,' writes Cuore, another publication relishing unfavourable gossip.
Today, 'people are more ironic, sceptical and better informed,' and want to see 'crude reality' rather than 'lies,' writer Vicente Verdu said.

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