Local news: 2 gangs initmidate the residents on a street in El Raval

One article I found in El Periodico on March 11, 2010 was called “2 Gangs Intimidate the Residents on a Street on El Raval.” The main premise of this article is that on Santcliment Street in El Raval, a group of young teenagers have been controlling the narrow street and threatening the residents who live there and have something to say to them. This area has become a sort of a haven for two groups of teenagers who have used the street to loiter and deal drugs. According to the article, the two groups are made up of both Catalan residents and Maghreb. However, while the two groups both deal drugs, it is the Catalan individuals who provide the biggest problem for the residents. In the article, resident Eduard Elias describes how the problem began on January 23rd, when a woman living in the area was threatened by the ringleader of the gang. Supposedly, the woman asked the young man to finally fix a leak that was the young man’s responsibility to fix, and he responded by threatening the woman and telling her and her husband “to settle it in the street.” Following this interaction, Elias said that the intimidation began to pick up, and that ever since then the gangs have made life miserable for the peaceful residents. Each day the residents are met with menacing and threatening comments when they leave their houses, and have to deal with the groups yelling profanities at them and even spitting on them. There is no way for the peaceful residents of the street to avoid these gangs; the only way for them to reach their homes is to pass by these gang members and face verbal abuse. In addition to these problems, Elias said that the majority of the residents do not know how to handle the situation, and are basically at the mercy of the games. Although the police are aware of the situation, there has been little action in thwarting these gang’s efforts. While the manager of Ciutat Vella said there were significant efforts to help resolve this situation, currently the gangs are still in control of the situation. I thought this was a very worthwhile article because I haven’t really seen any violence or problems during my time in Barcelona. While I have felt very safe throughout my time here, this article opened up my eyes in a sense that there are gang problems in Spain just like in the United States. Luckily, none of these residents have been seriously hurt, but hopefully police efforts step up so any future problems are avoided.