A judge is investigating a Vox councilor in Santa Coloma for spreading names of migrants who receive aid

BarcelonaA judge in Santa Coloma de Gramenet has opened an investigation following a complaint from social entities in the city against Vox councilman Aitor Navarro for his racist messages on social media and for having disclosed the names of people receiving municipal social aid or subsidies. The judge has summoned Navarro to testify on November 17 and will also take statements from several witnesses a week later, according to a court order reported by Eldiario.es and consulted by ARA.

The complaint from the social entities denounces Navarro's "deliberate and sustained communication pattern" on his social media, which consists of linking immigration, unaccompanied minors, and Muslims "with concepts such as delinquency, insecurity, fraud, and even Islamization of the public space". In this regard, they have submitted nine videos to the judge that Navarro had posted on his social media.

They also refer to a livestream in which Navarro read the full names from a list of people who had received some social subsidy or aid from the Santa Coloma City Council. "It's even funny to see a Catalan person there," the councilman commented about the list. "Depending on the page, we see Chinese names, Pakistani names, and you say, wow, and where is the Spaniard? Well, at home, working, unable to make ends meet." Navarro also encouraged joining his WhatsApp channel to obtain "the full list".

Message from the entities

SOS Racisme Catalunya, the Santa Coloma Reception Centre, Cala Sisqueta Gramenet, Espai Gramenet, Papers i Drets per a Tothom and Ningú Sense Llar Gramenet, advised by lawyer David Aranda, have filed a complaint that also refers to an incident that took place outside of social media. In November 2024, when two residents were distributing leaflets in the Fondo neighborhood for the demonstration for lower rent prices on November 23 of that year, according to the complaint, Navarro confronted one of the women, a Muslim activist, telling her that he would trade "one of yours for one of mine." He was also distributing flyers and hanging posters that equated immigration with insecurity, with messages such as: "Exercise caution in this area! The Popular Party and the Socialist Party are distributing illegals here".

The same entities also refer to a speech by Navarro at the municipal plenary session, in which he referred to unaccompanied migrant minors as "people of military age entering the State illegally". "Santa Coloma is a welcoming city. In our neighborhoods, we live in an atmosphere of tolerance. Unfortunately, both the news disseminated by the media and the racist speeches of some political representatives, such as those of Aitor Navarro, endanger this tolerance, the coexistence, and the social cohesion that has survived different migrations that this city has experienced in its history," the entities say in a statement following the acceptance of the complaint.