Reports of violence in and around the square have been increasing, with almost weekly reports of heavy-handed doormen literally setting upon unsuspecting holidaymakers in unprovoked attacks. There has been much criticism of the police and lack of control around the club areas frequented by the Brits – and last month they employed a private security firm from Valencia to patrol the square – almost an admission that things are out of hand.But club doormen were obviously not happy with the situation and an incidence left one of the hired personnel badly beaten up and subsequently admitted to intensive care in Valencia.
At the end of last month, in a separate altercation – a video of which was widely shared on social media, showed one doorman being forcefully held down by a group of police officers, with one placing his foot on the mans head while on the ground. A flight, which broke out in the square, saw 3 National police officers injured as they attempted to make an arrest… these are only the ones that make it into the public domain. There are probably many more incidents that we don’t hear about.
Gema Amor – head of the Liberales Party has criticized the Mayor Toni Perez and the ruling PP party that very little has been done in the first year of office – with the main ‘achievement’ being the controversial red bike lane running through the middle of the road in the Old Town.
Yesterday a meeting took place, which was attended by the head of the police and council officials to discuss strengthening surveillance but as the security councilor Lorenzo Martinez said “it was just a working meeting to discuss the issues and how to combat them”. The promised SATE office in the Rincon is on a back burner – now it transpires they are waiting for estimates, then they have a further 9 months to actually build it, meaning it may not even be ready for next year at this rate despite initially promising it for this summer!
In their election manifesto the PP party promised to get rid of the peamen, illegal sellers etc etc. They are out in force at 1pm – which either coincides with a shift change or lunchtime, not sure which but what I do know is that everyday there are around a dozen along the Levante alone as I have personally seen them and taken pictures… to which they got rather annoyed about. All they currently do is issue a dununcia – which while they are writing out another 3 or 4 groups walk past behind them and continue working. The groups of African prostitues are out nightly – plenty of videos about on Facebook yet all the police do is move them further up the street.
What the Mayor needs to do is place a police officer at all the intersections leading down to the promenade, leave them there and it will stop in an instant. With schools finishing next week they will no longer need to be performing lollypop duties, so technically more to patrol along the front – but perhaps that’s wishful thinking. With it heading into high holiday season and the addition of the Euro football championships taking place, there will be even more drinking taking place here, which could potentially lead to problems – lets hope they are all well behaved.
Comments
We only usually go to the square once on our holiday to re-live our youth(!). It's tacky and cheesy but can be fun! However, having had my eyes opened and the numerous stories of eastern european bouncers with knuckledusters - I think we might give it a miss this year and try somewhere else.... seafront maybe?