Barcelona's fall: deleted video reignites safety debate

A deleted video and the Barcelona losing its mythical label

Barcelona has stopped being the Switzerland of the Mediterranean, at least in the public conversation circulating these days. A video that, according to references, dates back three months, was removed from the platform almost immediately after it spread. The discussion it left behind does not focus on the content, but on what the content represents: a city unable to sustain its own myth of modernity and order.

The removal was not accompanied by any explanation. Among the reactions that survived the deletion, one stands out for derailing the usual narrative: the person involved, it is noted, was white-skinned and this does not appear to be a matter between groups. That detail breaks any simplistic scheme about who creates insecurity and adds an uncomfortable layer to the debate on immigration and violence.

The irony also reaches the city government. The old slogan about the damned right-wing fascists who govern the city ends in an oh wait: the person in charge of Barcelona is hardly the radical right. The joke turns against the dominant discourse itself. The city appears as a showcase of institutional pogre with its image under suspicion.

The video disappeared, but the conversation refused to go with it. Without an official explanation and without the original clip, the Switzerland of the Mediterranean metaphor hangs in the air. Next time perhaps nothing will need to be deleted: the perception will have taken hold before any denial.