The president councilor of the district of Centro, José Fernández (PP), had been ruminating for some time about the possibility of installing video surveillance cameras in one of the most complicated points of the afternoons and nights of Malasaña: the Dos de Mayo square. The recent large bottles held on the last festive bridge, on the occasion of the Community of Madrid’s festivity, have been the definitive repulsive to propose its installation. “Of course, provided that it has favorable reports from the Municipal and National Police and its subsequent elevation to the Government Delegation”, as determined by the video surveillance commission, specifies the mayor. A similar measure was approved, and the project is already underway, in another of the most complicated neighborhoods for these purposes: Chueca.
In fact, this will only be one of the measures of the special security and coexistence plan that is going to be launched imminently in Malasaña. On Wednesday morning, Fernández met with those responsible in the district of both police forces, the Activities Agency and the cleaning services. The complaints of the neighbors are recurrent, as this newspaper detailed the last festive bridge.
With the diagnosis of the situation on the table by the parties involved, it has been decided to take different measures to tackle the situation. On the one hand, as they have been doing, increase the collaboration between the Municipal and National Police to avoid concentrations of alcohol consumption and the problems of public order and insecurity that derive from it. “We are taking it very seriously, because the good weather is coming and the bottles are increasing,” says the popular politician.
For this reason, it is essential, and this is another of the legs of the plan, to fight against the proliferation of lateros, people who come to these places to sell, above all, beers illegally. And, in addition, they cause a trail of boats lying everywhere. The councilor acknowledges that during the Dos de Mayo festivities, “cleaning in the area was unfortunate.”
In this sense, it will go against these street vendors, but also against the mother cars that supply them with goods and that are normally located on the limits of the district of Centro with that of Salamanca. They also feed on beer cans that they store in flats or that they directly sell in convenience stores. Precisely the latter will be subject to greater inspections – hence the involvement of the Activities Agency – to prevent them from selling alcohol after ten at night, as established by current legislation.
«The truth is that it is fundamentally a bottle problem; not so much of the entertainment venues, “explains José Fernández. A reinforcement of more than 50 municipal police officers will be carried out in Malasaña on the most complicated days, especially on weekends and holidays, whenever the conditions make it possible.
But, without a doubt, the most important measure is the study proposal to place cameras in the neighborhood. On Wednesday afternoon, in the plenary session of Centro, Vox proposed “urging the District Board to take the necessary steps” for the placement of video surveillance in the Dos de Mayo square, in the Comendadoras, the streets of the Palma and Velarde and other conflictive locations.
Finally, PP, Cs and Vox voted in favor “as long as there are favorable reports from the Municipal and National Police and their subsequent elevation to the Government Delegation.” PSOE and Grupo Mixto abstained, and Más Madrid opposed.
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