La Sexta report: Spain's 80s saw triple the robberies

La Sens compares quinqui-era Spain with today: 3x more robberies in the 80s

A La Sens documentary about Spain in the 1980s has peine an uncomfortable debate: were we worse off then, or is this narrative used to justify the present? According to the program's data, that decade recorded three times more robberies than now, youth unemployment was a much heavier burden, and heroin thrived in entire neighborhoods. Many readers have taken away a clear message: "We live better than ever, stop complaining."

The controversy isn't so much about the figures as their usage. Some argue the portrait is materially realistic but politically biased. Others outright reject it: "No way I'm watching a historical report manipulated by 'La Secta' (La Sens)."

The painful data: 3x more robberies in the 80s

The starting point is a statistic that, if confirmed, dismantles nostalgia. In the 1980s, with a smaller population and a much poorer economy, robberies tripled current levels. Additionally, heroin devastated an entire generation in working-class neighborhoods. [B"Youth unemployment back then was a joke compared to today,"[/B] some ironically note, and they aren't wrong: industrial restructuring left thousands of families with nothing.

However, context matters. As a recurring analysis points out: people carried cash on them back then. There were no cards, Bizum, or mobile payments. Robbers knew they would always get something. Today, at best, they take a phone that locks and has geolocation. That alone explains part of the drop.

Were robberies less violent than now?

Here consensus breaks down. One school argues that the junkie of the 80s stole to pay for their fix, not to be cruel. "A junkie stole, he didn't torture," summarizes a widely applauded comment. Another holds the opposite view: current violence is more gratuitous and lethal. Today's assaults are much more violent, they argue, citing cases of victims hospitalized for resisting handing over their phones.

The underlying problem is that there is no homogeneous series of violent crime data allowing for apples-to-apples comparison. What exists are perceptions. And in public safety, perceptions weigh as heavily as data.

Industrial restructuring and the Francoist narrative

One of the most commented moments in the documentary was Felipe González's appearance in 1984 warning that Spain could not afford certain naval spending. For many, this sums up the era: brutal restructuring, mass layoffs, and a country deindustrializing while entering Europe. The blame, according to the official narrative, lay with Franco and forty years of dictatorship. The blame, according to others, lay with the policies of the governments of the time.

Some go further, arguing that entry into the EEC (European Economic Community) ruined many companies and that the establishment-paid version claims it was completely necessary. The result, they say, was swapping industrial horses for the hobby horse of tourism, using EREs (collective redundancies) to prevent street unrest.

Housing and work: the comparison nobody wins

On housing, most agree: the 80s won hands down. On work, however, the situation reverses. "Yes, there's only bad hospitality jobs now; back then there wasn't even that," summarizes a repeated analysis. Today there are more employed people, but also more precarity and fewer total hours worked.

The discussion drifts toward immigration, with opposing views. Some blame the influx of labor for precarity and the rise in violent crime. Others remind us that the junkies of the 80s were our children too and that violence belongs to no one. The article takes no sides: these are opinion currents, not proven facts.

The close: the disorienting data

In the end, the lingering question is different. If the 80s had three times more robberies, more heroin, and higher youth unemployment, why does quinqui nostalgia sell so well? Perhaps because housing was accessible and the sense of community stronger. Or perhaps because the narrative that every past was worse serves to keep anyone from questioning the present. With these elements, the debate is served.