A councillor from Valencia surprised listeners with a minute-long speech in stunningly fluent English and without the slightest trace of a Spanish accent for the city’s bid to become the European Capital of Innovation 2020, an honour later awarded to Leuven in Belgium.
Carlos Galiana was being live-dubbed by a native English speaker – with a noticeable regional accent. The Spanish newspaper El Español reported the council did not have an interpreter stand next to Galiana because of strict commission instructions