Overview

• Rushdie appeared at the Palacio de Carlos V in the Alhambra to open the inaugural Cultur_ALH festival in a public conversation with writer Andrés Neuman.
• He argued that a sense of humor separates free people from tyrants and said humor runs through both Cuchillo and The Satanic Verses.
• He criticized attacks on books by people who have not read them and reflected on the enduring fallout from The Satanic Verses.
• He warned that a segment of society now treats culture, education, and art as enemies, describing it as a world turned upside down.
• He recounted surviving the 2022 knife attack, credited medicine and luck, avoided commenting on Gaza or Ukraine, and highlighted long ties to Spain and the Alhambra dating back to his first visit at 19.