Mieres residents protest over insecurity in Spain's red Asturias
Around 20 residents of Mieres protest against insecurity and shake the narrative of red Asturias. The PSOE sees an uncomfortable signal.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Red Asturias has had enough: Mieres protests against insecurity
The socialist stronghold of Mieres has cracked: some twenty residents have taken to the streets to protest against insecurity, and the video is spreading like wildfire. This is not the usual protest —nothing about mines or jobs— it is a demand for order in the symbolic capital of red Asturias. The fact that the mining basin, which has voted PSOE to the point of exhaustion, is now talking about security carries real weight.
Why the mining basin is demanding security
The gathering, barely 20 people, has more symbolic than numerical value. Behind the discontent lies a mix that the government of Adrián Barbón does not know how to manage: perceived crime, a sense of abandonment and a policy of hosting migrant minors that has peine a rift among traditional voters. Some sum it up with sarcasm: "enjoy what you voted for." Others, more cautious, point out that the complaint goes back a long way and that the administration has not risen to the occasion.
The dynamite legend and the new discontent
To gauge the change, it is enough to recall the old story from the 1980s in a mining village in El Bierzo, when a provincial council chairman arrived to impose a project and the mayor, shirtless and with a cigar, reminded him how much dynamite there was in the area. The project never went ahead. Today residents do not need explosives; the evidence on the street is enough. The video of the Mieres protest may be a louder warning than the PSOE thinks.
The question is whether this erosion will remain an anecdote or end up taking its toll at the ballot box. Time will tell, but the mining basin has already broken the taboo of demanding more police without apologizing for it.
The socialist stronghold of Mieres has cracked: some twenty residents have taken to the streets to protest against insecurity, and the video is spreading like wildfire. This is not the usual protest —nothing about mines or jobs— it is a demand for order in the symbolic capital of red Asturias. The fact that the mining basin, which has voted PSOE to the point of exhaustion, is now talking about security carries real weight.
Why the mining basin is demanding security
The gathering, barely 20 people, has more symbolic than numerical value. Behind the discontent lies a mix that the government of Adrián Barbón does not know how to manage: perceived crime, a sense of abandonment and a policy of hosting migrant minors that has peine a rift among traditional voters. Some sum it up with sarcasm: "enjoy what you voted for." Others, more cautious, point out that the complaint goes back a long way and that the administration has not risen to the occasion.
The dynamite legend and the new discontent
To gauge the change, it is enough to recall the old story from the 1980s in a mining village in El Bierzo, when a provincial council chairman arrived to impose a project and the mayor, shirtless and with a cigar, reminded him how much dynamite there was in the area. The project never went ahead. Today residents do not need explosives; the evidence on the street is enough. The video of the Mieres protest may be a louder warning than the PSOE thinks.
The question is whether this erosion will remain an anecdote or end up taking its toll at the ballot box. Time will tell, but the mining basin has already broken the taboo of demanding more police without apologizing for it.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (10 replies).
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