The Valents candidate for mayor of Barcelona understands that the insecurity suffered by the city is already unsustainable, that the name of the Catalan capital cannot continue to be associated with criminals, drug-drug flats and squatters, that if it governs it will ask for reinforcements from the National Police and the Civil Guard in order to tackle crime rates.
“Because Barcelona is one of the major targets of the mafias and organized crime,” Eva Parera explained yesterday, “and the National Police and the Civil Guard have powers to deal with them. But the Generalitat prefers to classify them as occupation forces. Barcelona, however, needs to reach the number of 10,000 police officers”.
Parera participated this Tuesday morning in the cycle of conferences for the main mayors of the city organized by the business platform Barcelona Global and La Vanguardia, which is being held these days at Casa Seat. And the truth is that she drew a somewhat apocalyptic and rather disturbing picture of the situation.
"Since Ada Colau is mayor, Barcelona has added a million crimes," added the one from Valents. Insecurity continues to rise. Last year, 167,698 crimes were committed here, 29.9% more than in 2021. Crimes against sexual freedom increased by 15.3%, violent robberies by 25.3%, drug trafficking by 48.5 %, thefts 47.5% and home robberies 23.8%”.
And on top of that, the mayor insisted, the municipal government promotes the occupation, tolerates the usurpation of municipal property, and sometimes even pays the squatters for supplies and works... Parera is also determined to put an end to this institutional squatter-friendly spirit and reestablish the reviled in some circles the right to private property.
"And the Urban Guard will have what it needs to do its job, tasers, long weapons and one-person cameras." Once again, the Valents candidate stressed that one of her objectives is to vacate Barcelona.
And between mandoble and mandoble Parera also accused the mayoress Colau of being the biggest real estate speculator in Barcelona, of making a devious use of the right of first refusal and retraction, of blowing up public-private collaboration and discouraging developers with measures such as the mandatory reserve of thirty percent. "The commons confuse public-private collaboration with the I command and command."
And, well, candidate Parera also had to give explanations, answering some of the most uncomfortable questions from the deputy director of La Vanguardia, Enric Sierra, about that support four years ago for Colau's investiture as mayor starring Manel Valls and the list of Barcelona pel Canvi, where she was listed as number two.
Yes, it was a mistake, Parera acknowledged, a mistake by Valls himself, the mayor pointed out, because Valls should not have given those votes for nothing, given them away, period as long as the independentistas did not take control of the city. In addition, they expected other ways and forms from the socialists. Apparently in the end what had to happen did not happen.
And Parera also shook off yesterday a title that he was showing off lately, that of the Catalan Ayuso. "Well," she said yesterday, "what is clear is that if Ayuso had been Catalan, she would have been from Valents."
