Armed violence has once again hit Barcelona with a rawness that overwhelms municipal management after two stabbings that occurred over the weekend. One of the attacks was fatal in the Raval neighborhood, while another left a minor injured near the Feria de Abril.
Junts has denounced an extremely serious and unacceptable security situation that demands an immediate response from the council. The political party considers that the Catalan capital is going through a critical moment that does not allow for delays or institutional excuses.
The mayor under political pressure
Jordi Martí Galbis, president of Junts in Barcelona, demanded that Mayor Jaume Collboni leave his office to assume the leadership that the city urgently demands. The political leader warned about the normalization of violence as a structural risk for urban coexistence.
"We cannot allow Barcelona to become a city where knife and gun violence is commonplace" - Jordi Martí Galbis, president of Junts in Barcelona
The municipal group requested concrete and forceful actions to reinforce police presence in the streets and recover the sense of citizen security. They proposed improving operational coordination between the Mossos d'Esquadra and the Guardia Urbana to act firmly against criminal gangs.
Act against criminal gangs and mafia groups that operate with impunity in the city has become the absolute priority of the opposition. Critics recall that the plenary session recently approved a specific police plan after the local government admitted the increase in these crimes.
Deadly crime in El Raval
Saturday night confirmed the fears of neighbors and political parties when a detained minor stabbed a man to death in the Ciutat Vella district. This mournful event was added to another knife attack that injured another young man near the April Fair.
These incidents occur barely a month after two shootings in Sant Martí and Sants-Badal left two people injured in the public thoroughfare. The recurrence of these violent episodes fuels the perception of a city overwhelmed by organized crime.
The presidents of the municipal groups of PP and Vox, Daniel Sirera and Gonzalo de Oro, also pointed directly at Jaume Collboni for the events. Both right-wing leaders consider the local executive's response to be insufficient in the face of escalating social tension.
"There is already enough and Barcelona is too big for the mayor" - Daniel Sirera, president of the PP in Barcelona
Gonzalo de Oro published on the social network X that the current president represents a danger to the stability of the metropolis. The leader of Vox questioned the veracity of the latest official crime data and demanded drastic expulsion measures.
He requested the immediate expulsion of criminals as the only way to stop the spiral of violence affecting different districts of the city. The opposition maintains that the real figures far exceed the statistics provided by the interior department.
Political tension now focuses on the government team's capacity for reaction to a citizenry demanding public order. Criticisms converge on the idea that municipal authority has lost control of the streets to violent groups.