Where police ask for your ID: the geography of identity checks in Spain

Some haven't shown their ID in years, others pull it out every week

At first glance it seems like a luxury: some people haven't been asked for their documents in two or three years, with no fines or searches. But others have gone through more than ten checks between June and August alone in the Sierra Oeste area west of Madrid. The experience of police checks in Spain is radically unequal.

The urban-rural divide

In large cities, video surveillance has replaced physical identification. Cameras at every traffic light, licence plate readers and facial recognition have made control diffuse. On the outskirts and secondary roads, the officer is still stationed with an outstretched hand asking for your ID. The gap between these two worlds has grown to the point that residents of the Sierra Oeste de Madrid keep alert groups to dodge the checks.

The factor some keep quiet about

Part of the discussion veers towards the citizen's ethnic origin. Some argue that racial profiling exists and that it rewards some people with invisibility. It's an uncomfortable claim, but the perception is there: the further you are from the standard profile, the more likely you are to be stopped. The absence of official statistics broken down by origin makes it impossible to confirm or deny it.

The only certainty is that the perception of authority depends on your postcode, your age and, probably, the officer's prejudices. As long as there is no transparent data, everyone will keep telling their own story.