Banderas slates political jibes

Spanish hunk Antonio Banderas is determined to educate his Spanish compatriots who lump all Americans together and believe he supports American president George W Bush due to his choice of residence.

The Shrek 2 star, 43, wants Spaniards to be aware of the diversity in America - and to understand that he does not have to support American government policies to live there.

Banderas explains: "As the situation changed here (Spain) with the war in Iraq, more sensibilities were awakened, and some people have said things against me as a political attack (because he lives in America). Which is stupid, because I don't have communion with George Bush, obviously.

"People in Spain who have never visited the USA think that when you are walking on the street there are thousands of Bushes.

"I always say one thing to people: what is America, really? It's Bob Dylan or George Bush. It's (Senator Joseph) McCarthy or Martin Luther King.

"And what is Spain? It is ETA or Picasso. We all have our s*** to hide. It's a human thing; you don't have to agree with an administration to be living in a country.

"But I don't lose the sense of my homeland. When I go back, I am always active politically, socially, culturally."