Vox does not like the reception center for immigrant minors in Hortaleza, nor that they spend hours walking around the public building and much less that they sit at the nearby bus stops. That is why he presented this Thursday at the Hortaleza Municipal Board a motion to request that immediate measures be taken against minors, whom he calls menas, “in the face of inappropriate occupation by unaccompanied minors of the waiting benches at bus stops in Hortaleza. the EMT surrounding the Center.” The proposal was discussed and rejected by all political parties despite the PP’s attempts to modify the initiative, “make-up” according to the opposition, with an amendment. Thus, where Vox asked that action be taken against emigrants because “they spit on and harass girls” at bus stops, the Popular Party proposed doing so against any person, regardless of their origin, who improperly uses the EMT shelters. The amendment, however, was not well received by Vox or the rest of the parties, who finally voted against it.
The vote, however, was preceded by an almost national debate on emigration in Spain; the reception centers, the distributions between communities or the role of the humanitarian organizations that host them. To add more voices to the debate, a group of neighbors waited for more than three hours for item 17 of the agenda to protest Vox’s proposal. Before, the legislators talked about child violence, the deterioration of sports facilities or the future of a park until the point came that had to do with the bus stops of the Municipal Transport Company (EMT) and that angered those who used daily, including some of the neighbors present there.
In her speech, Emilia Lozano, from the ‘We are welcome’ association, began by reproaching the Vox councilors for the derogatory use of the term ‘mena’, “they are not menas, they are young people without families far from their country,” she began by saying and then He added: “You are the racists, the ones who bring fear and hatred to Hortaleza, you…”
– “I have to call her to order for the second time,” they told her from the table, before warning her that if she continued like this they would stop her from speaking.
The member of Vox, Susana Cordoba, shifted in her chair and shouted to the heavens: “Madam, it’s okay. “This cannot be allowed,” she said indignantly, looking at those in charge of bringing order. The representative of the ultra formation, however, forgot that she had begun her intervention by accusing the “communist” forces, which included left-wing political parties, the media, and humanitarian organizations, of collaborating with migrant trafficking, and leading the rejection of his position. Lozano, however, continued: “the kids must leave the center from 4 in the afternoon until 9 o’clock when they are given dinner and use the canopies to hang out or take refuge from the cold.”
The argument to justify its initiative, Vox attributes to underage immigrants “an increase in insecurity and intimidation among neighbors and users of public transportation, especially girls and older people, as well as an increase in garbage, bags and dirt.” , which affects the image and use of public space in the area.” According to Vox, at bus stops users receive spitting and humiliation that has forced neighbors to modify routes and journeys, he argued. Their initiative also required a greater police presence around the reception center.
On the part of Más Madrid, Miguel Montejo demanded from the PP not only a rejection of the initiative, in this case an amendment, but also a condemnation, “The PP intends to put this proposal that buries Human Rights, the Constitution under the rug with an amendment. and to the municipal police who said in a meeting with neighbors that linking menas with crime is a hoax,” he stressed. “Because the crimes committed by unaccompanied minors are very low.” Montejo said that the real problem is in the Hortaleza reception center, dependent on the Community of Madrid, because the center is prepared to accommodate 35 people, but now more than 130 are living there. They have no means and the staff “is burned out,” Montejo denounced.
During his speaking time, the member of the PP, Gustavo Galiani, criticized the use “that some and others make of delicate issues,” and pointed out that “The PP will always be against misuse by anyone of spaces that belong to everyone.” ”. The PP brought to Hortaleza the message launched hours earlier by Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida, who supported the equidistance by saying that he is “neither with the message that Vox sends, always of insecurity pointing to the ‘menas’, nor with the left that identifies as racists anyone who does not share its views.”
For his part, PSOE councilor Jorge Donaire, also reprimanded from the Hortaleza board of directors, described the VOX proposal as “petty, despicable, intolerable and racist.” “It is a clearly racist, xenophobic proposal that aims to take us to dark times in our history, where segregation, discrimination and violation of rights were present in our society,” he said. Given the PP amendment, Donaire described the popular party as “accomplices” for buying the ideological framework of the extreme right, which earned him a second warning from the table. In their criticism, both Mas Madrid and PSOE pointed out the Community of Madrid for not providing the reception center with the necessary services. “There is no security problem in the district, but there are two other serious problems. The first, the social alarm and the incitement to racist behavior by Vox and the second, the institutional mistreatment due to the irresponsibility of Ayuso and the neglect of functions and powers of the Community of Madrid,” he concluded by saying. Finally, Vox’s proposal was rejected by everyone.
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