Ordino troupe stages burlesque to protest trademark claim on traditional bear mask

The Associació de Cultura Popular d’Ordino (APCO) staged its annual burlesque farce L’última ossa d’Ordino in Plaça del Prat de Call, using satire and performance to protest a dispute over the parish’s traditional bear‑head mask after its image was entered in the trademark register. Around 40 people took part in the production, including 28 actors.

APCO president and the play’s artistic director, Albert Roig, said the association has filed a complaint challenging the trademark office’s acceptance of the registration. Local reports identify the registrant as former communal councillor Marc Benazet (Marc Benazet Mulet). Roig said the registrant’s entry into the trademark register was accompanied by a lawyer’s letter demanding that APCO stop using images of the bear head, and that the association fears the registration could be used to bar them from depicting the mask.

The association argues the mask is communal cultural heritage and points to the 2003 UNESCO convention that recognises the Festes de l’Os dels Pirineus as intangible cultural heritage. APCO says a private trademark cannot appropriate an element passed down across generations and has refused to sign a proposed agreement that would have allowed the group to use the image only if it recognised the registrant’s ownership.

The parish council, led by cònsol major Maria del Mar Coma, says its role has been to mediate and defuse tensions. Coma said the administration recently arranged for the original mask to be displayed in town‑hall premises with the registrant’s agreement, but stressed that this did not amount to recognising private ownership. APCO disputes that characterisation, saying the council’s proposed deal effectively favoured the registrant by conditioning the association’s use of the image on accepting his claim.

Onstage, the trademark row was a recurring motif. Performers handed out stickers reading “L’ossa és del poble” (“The bear belongs to the people”) and staged a sketch in which a caricature of Culture Minister Mònica Bonell measured the skull as if to determine whether it could be registered. The script also targeted local issues — changes to bus services, notably the L6 route, elements of the parish urban‑planning plan (POUP), poor transport links in Cortinada, and the perceived imbalance between dog parks and children’s play areas — and referenced national topics such as the failed visit by the French co‑prince, housing shortages and wider economic inequality.

Organisers served hot broth to attendees before the performance and presented two honorary recognitions onstage: Lurdes Riba, noted for campaigning for improved bus access to the hospital for elderly residents, and guitarist Rafael Serrallet, a Valencian resident of the parish and Grammy winner, who was brought forward to receive applause.

Legally, the conflict remains unresolved. APCO says it will continue to contest any private claim over elements it regards as part of the communal festival; Roig said the registrant has not yet filed suit and the association doubts he will, arguing he would be unlikely to prevail. The parish council maintains it sought only to mediate and avoid escalation.