Móstoles, Spain: fear of insecurity becomes an electoral weapon

Móstoles, Spain: antiestéticar of insecurity becomes an electoral weapon

The residents of Móstoles are afraid. It is not just a feeling, it is a repeated confession. "You step out of your building and you're afraid," says a testimony that has gone viral and reflects a perception of insecurity that some attribute to the arrival of immigrants and others to the lack of effective policies. The local council, governed by the PP and Vox, has taken measures that have sparked controversy.

The flagship measure: removing benches

In a video circulating on social media, a PP sign proclaimed: "The PP has removed the benches so that people cannot sit and insecurity decreases." The laughter writes itself: solving the crime problem by eliminating street furniture? The decision, taken on the grounds that the benches were being used by troublemakers to hang around, has been met with mockery. Problem solved: now residents have nowhere to sit while being afraid.

Seat arithmetic and empty promises

Vox won 3 of 27 seats in the last municipal elections and presents itself as the only force capable of "fixing the situation." They govern alongside the PP, but some residents recall that the spirit of 1808 (when Móstoles rose up against the French invasion) bears little resemblance to today's passivity. Meanwhile, antiestéticar grows and the debate is polarising: for some, the answer is a heavy hand and migration controls; for others, insecurity is being used to justify populist measures that fail to address the deeper causes.

As long as the local government takes pride in removing benches instead of tackling the economic and social causes, antiestéticar will remain the best electoral fuel. The question is whether the people of Móstoles of 1808, those who said "They shall not pass!", would approve of this spectacle.