Salvador Illa: "Catalonia is safer every day"

BarcelonaThe municipal elections are approaching, polls predict a substantial growth of the far-right, and security is, more than ever, at the center of the debate. More and more leaders and parties, such as Junts and the PP, are hardening their rhetoric in this field. They want to prevent the debate from remaining solely in the hands of Aliança Catalana and Vox. And the president of the Generalitat and secretary-general of the PSC, Salvador Illa, does not want to be left on the sidelines either. In recent days, the head of the Government has chosen to reinforce messages against crime, especially regarding those offenses that most affect citizens' perception of insecurity.

This very Friday, Illa met with the Minister of the Presidency, Justice, and Relations with the Cortes, Félix Bolaños, at the Palau de la Generalitat to address crime and multirecidivism. Both socialist leaders boasted about the management of the Government and the Moncloa, and in a joint appearance, they celebrated that the number of crimes has been reduced and judicial procedures in our country have been accelerated, especially against multirecidivist criminals. The president contrasted this with the "manipulation" of the far-right, which denounces an increase in insecurity: "With each passing day, Catalonia is safer."

The meeting between Illa and Bolaños comes at a time when the Generalitat is negotiating a proposal with the Moncloa totoughen the Penal Code regarding crimes of illegal possession of weapons, as reported by ARA. Specifically, the Government proposes doubling prison sentences for carrying prohibited weapons, which are currently 1 to 3 years of deprivation of liberty, and creating a new crime for brandishing weapons in public. The Catalan executive is optimistic that it will move forward, and the president argues that it "perfectly fits" within "the requirement for respect for coexistence and maintaining public order." "Security is a progressive value," added Bolaños.

Illa has also intensified his messages on social media to disseminate the work of the Generalitat against crime. A strategy that mayors across the country, especially from Junts, have been carrying out for some time, and they usually communicate any arrest or action – however small it may be – of their administration. This Thursday, for example, the PSC leader tweeted that the Mossos d'Esquadra had arrested an alleged copper thief and took the opportunity to insist that "protecting the citizenry" is a "priority" of the socialist government.

The bad data and the crisis at the Interior Department

Illa has reeled off a series of data to argue for the decrease in crime. In the first half of this year, compared to the same period of the previous year, robberies with violence or intimidation have decreased by 3.8%, home burglaries by 9%, thefts by 14.6%, and car thefts by 3%, according to data from the Ministry of the Interior. However, the president has ignored the figures affecting more serious crimes, which are worsening. The number of homicides has grown by 1.5%, fights and crimes involving injuries by 8.4%, and sexual assaults with penetration by 3.4%.

The commitment to security is not new, but it is gaining more relevance at the current moment, in which the Department of the Interior is going through a complicated period. In recent weeks, Tomás Carrión, who was the number two to the Minister of the Interior, Núria Parlon, and the Director General of the Police, Josep Lluís Trapero, who was one of the big signings of the Illa government, have resigned. The controversial infiltration of police officers into teachers' assemblies, the use of pepper spray against protesters, and the pilot plan regarding the presence of agents in educational centers have been some of the most questioned actions.