Almodovar set to be sued by Popular Party

Oscar-winning Spanish film maker Pedro Almodovar, whose latest film Bad Education receives its Madrid premiere today, is being sued by the Popular Party for suggesting it was fomenting a coup d'etat on the eve of the general election

Oscar-winning Spanish film maker Pedro Almodovar, whose latest film Bad Education receives its Madrid premiere today, is being sued by the Popular Party for suggesting it was fomenting a coup d'etat on the eve of the general election.

Mr Almodovar was commenting on a recent anonymous e-mail according to which the outgoing PP government apparently called on King Juan Carlos to sign orders for the declaration of a state of emergency and suspend the elections.

The PP leader Marino Rajoy, called the claim a "colossal lie''. A PP spokesman said it would sue Mr Almodovar for slander.

The film maker's remarks reflect a common belief that far-right sympathisers are mobilising to throw doubt on the legitimacy of the victory of the Socialist leader, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

The surprise television appearance by Mr Rajoy on Saturday night to order the dispersal of protestors who had rallied to accuse the government of concealing information about the possible perpetrators of Thursday's bomb blastswas, he said, "the hijacking of information, a cruel mockery of the Spanish people and their grief.''

"I can't believe that the PP was capable of such a pantomime,'' he said.

Mr Almodovar said that if the rumour of plans for a coup was true, it would be "horrific".