The Mossos estimate that there are a thousand young people in the orbit of youth gangs

Barcelona"We cannot wait for more things to happen to take action." With these words, the chief commissioner of the Mossos d'Esquadra, Sílvia Catà, summarizes what is happening with youth gangs in Catalonia: they are smaller groups than in the 2000s, much more heterogeneous and flexible, with less presence than back then, but they exist. And, for the first time, the Catalan police are providing figures on the phenomenon. According to the Mossos d'Esquadra's calculations, there are a thousand young people in the orbit of these gangs and approximately half can be directly classified as members. This data is the result of months of research, with more than 600 diverse sources consulted, ranging from a police report of an incident to an informant. All of this has led the Mossos to create the Proa, a specific plan to fight against youth gangs. This Thursday it was presented within the force and it will be launched in November.

As the ARA has explained on several occasions, since 2024 the Mossos have been monitoring the situation of these gangs because they had noticed a resurgence and, in fact, in territories like Barcelona a specific plan was already being carried out to deal with it. In the first decade of the 2000s, the arrival of migrants from South America was the seed for gangs like the Trinitarios, the Ñetas, the Maras... to the point that the police created a specific group to fight against these cliques. Over the years, the situation subsided and the Mossos closed this group. Recently, however, the situation has changed: first in Madrid, where it began to be seen how these gangs were resurfacing, and now in Catalonia. The Mossos, in the words of their commanders, want to attack it now that it is not yet hegemonic, as explained by the executive deputy chief of the force, Ramon Chacón, and the superintendent of the headquarters, Toni Rodríguez.

For the moment, the Mossos estimate that there are 34 active groups, although there are three main ones that concentrate 66% of the people linked to gangs. They are the Trinitarios, Los 300—who also call themselves PGS and move around the Pegaso, the square where a minor was murdered this summer and which is being investigated as a conflict between gangs—and Barrio 18. One of the big questions is what unites these young people, what leads them to feel attracted to youth groups, if there is no longer as much of an identity factor of the place where I was born. And, for the moment, the Mossos find the answer in violence.

Violent behaviors are an end and not a means, the identity factor that brings these youths together. This leads to situations where an ill-judged comment or a bad look can end in an assault. And, as explained by ARA on Monday, there is also particular concern about the access they are beginning to have to firearms, an element that did not come into play as much in the 2000s, and which police commanders made explicit this Thursday.

Furthermore, behind the gangs, the police detect heavy digital consumption, often of violent behavior, and at the same time complicated life situations for youths, often minors, who do not integrate or live in a situation of social vulnerability. In fact, the police differentiate between those youths who say they are part of one of these groups to show off, but who are not really in them; those who sympathize with them, but do not have an active role; and, finally, those who clearly militate in them. It is estimated that in this last group there are between 400 and 500 active members.

A census of the gangs

The new Mossos plan will be territorial, since most of the groups are concentrated in the metropolitan area, but there are also some in the four provincial capitals. Each police region will have a table where all information about youth groups will be received in order to have a clearer picture of what exists in the country, which will be coordinated by the force's headquarters, which will have the global vision. The plan will be based on obtaining intelligence on groups from the perspective of the General Commissariat of Information, but also from that of Criminal Investigation. In addition, the squares and streets where the groups usually move will also be saturated with patrols.

At the beginning of the century, the gangs had a very important identity component, since they were divided by countries, their members were from the same cities and they clashed, precisely, for reasons of origin or identity. Now, the Mossos' analysis shows that the groups are formed by young boys, most of whom were born in Catalonia, and people with origins very far from South America such as the Maghreb and even China. They also carry less symbology than two decades ago, do not do as many graffiti, have fewer tattoos or there are no such strict rules for entering or leaving the groups —although they have detected some punishments and some internal rules—. That is to say, the scenario is more "blurred" and it is difficult to know who is who. That is why the Mossos speak of violent youth groups and not Latin gangs, since most of their members are not linked to any Latin American country.

Although the structures are not as hierarchical as before, the Mossos are indeed worried about whether at some point veteran members of the 2000s gangs could end up recruiting young people and professionalizing these groups. Until now, however, no very structural recruitment mechanisms have been detected. The police objective is to better detect these gangs and work to eliminate them, in the same way that they are committed to preventing the entry of new members. But the police also want to know how many of all the fights that occur during a year in Catalonia can be attributed to youth gangs. That is to say, to have a clear census of everything that falls outside the orbit of the gangs. For the moment, they are clear that since 2023 there have been three homicides that can clearly be linked to this dynamic.