Barcelona”The objective and subjective increase in insecurity in recent times requires us to look at security policies”. The PSC-Units thus argued the request to ask for a monographic debate on security in Parliament. He asked for it at the beginning of October, when the riots in Manresa and Molins de Rei fully entered the political debate, and it ended up being done this Tuesday, a month later. The big question is whether the situation is getting worse. No party, not even the Government, denies that there is a greater sense of insecurity, but they also all agree that this does not necessarily mean that there are more crimes. “Catalonia is a safe country”, assured both the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, and the Minister of the Interior, Joan Ignasi Elena. But what does the data say?
According to the figures to which the ARA has had access, 453,000 criminal acts have been committed in Catalonia until October of this year. “It is returning to pre-pandemic levels,” said Councilor Elena. For comparison, 435,000 crimes were committed up to October 2019, around 20,000 fewer than this year. This means that in 2023, criminal acts will have increased by 4.2%. However, this increase is mainly explained by the exponential rise in scams (especially online), which have doubled compared to 2019. If scams are removed from the criminal record, until this October there have been 4.8% fewer crimes than in 2019.
Of all these crimes, the vast majority are against property, such as theft, robbery or fraud: specifically, 80% of these 453,000. Conversely, 10% are crimes against people, such as injuries, homicides or gender violence. In 2022 the ratio of criminal acts per 1,000 inhabitants was 61.3. Catalonia is at the same level as Germany (60.7) and below countries such as Belgium (79.5). “Quantitatively we are here. And qualitatively the crimes in our home are changing”, summarized Elena, referring to the increase in online crimes and also, for example, sexual violence, hate crimes or crimes against the elderly .
“There are worrying signs”
This Tuesday’s debate had been called after the riots in Molins de Rei or the fights in Vic and Manresa. “There are worrying signs”, considered the leader of the PSC, Salvador Illa, referring to these two antecedents, and added that “a changing society needs different solutions”. Until October of this year, a worrying increase in crimes against public order has not been detected. Specifically, they have decreased by 2.8% compared to 2019. However, these episodes of “gratuitous violence”, as defined by Councilor Elena, worried the Government and caused the Mossos to change part of the operation and double the cash on major festivals such as those of Sant Feliu de Llobregat or El Vendrell.
Those in Manresa and Molins were completely different episodes, although both were starred by very young people. In fact, as ARA explained, behind those involved in the Manresa fight were the children of migrants who live in a complicated economic situation. In this regard, Aragonès said that security “goes far beyond” police and judicial work: “It starts from social cohesion policies. The more cohesive a society is, the safer it becomes”, he stated in a reflection shared by many political groups. The shared recipe, then, is to strengthen the police presence, but also to further promote social work.
“We must be clear: whoever commits crimes will have to bear the consequences”, the president added shortly afterwards. Most of the parties have agreed on the need to face the debate in a “calm” way and without falling into “populism”: “Security does not understand partisanship or ideologies”, said Illa. The proximity or distance between them will be demonstrated with the resolution proposals that will be voted on Thursday and now the parties are trying to agree. Despite the good initial words, the plenary session did not pass without criticism of the Government: “It is clear that things are not going well”, said the leader of Together in Parliament, Albert Batet. “There was no element of self-criticism in his speech,” PSC-Units MP Ramon Espadaler also criticized.
Demonstration of the police unions
Councilor Elena has not only received criticism in the chamber, but has taken whistles and some insults when he entered the Parliament by a demonstration called by the police unions SME, SAP-FEPOL, FEPOL and SEIME. Hundreds of police have gathered to demand from the Department of the Interior more legal security in the face of the aggressions they suffer and “a 180 degree turn” in their policy. In a statement, they denounce an “increase in violence against police forces” and call on the Government not to let it “overlook” and provide them with the necessary resources, such as Taser guns. Pere García, general secretary of the SAP-FEPOL union, has criticized a “taxing” policy of the Interior and has pointed out that a “policy of fear” has been installed in the high command of the police: “The time to say enough.”
2023-11-07 19:51:24
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