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INPRIMATU
They denounce the "racist and simplistic" report by Antena 3 on Donostia
  • On Wednesday, the Public Mirror Program of the Spanish Broadcasting Chain3 released a sensationalist report that focused on the alleged citizen insecurity in Donostia and focused on young Maghreb people. The report has been publicly denounced by Kale Afari Solidarioa (KAS), for being “racist and simplistic”: “The program wants to be a reflection of society, but the only image that returns us is a distorted image. This is not the mirror in which we stand, but fear, lies and hatred. Our reality is much more complex, more human, and deserves to be seen clearly, not with prejudice,” they explained. It should be remembered that the KAS volunteers distribute about 300 dinners each night in three neighbourhoods of the city between homeless and vulnerable people.
Irutxuloko Hitza @irutxulo Beñat Parra @parrabenat 2024ko irailaren 27a
'Espejo Público' saioa, Donostiari buruzko erreportajeaz hitz egiten ari ziren uneetako batean.

This is the approach of the report, as it can be read in the labels: “San Sebastian, from luxury to crime,” among other words, “The city of Arzak, the city that the Duchess of Alba spent the summer,” says the man who made the piece, as if San Sebastian were nothing more than that. It can also be read in the same sign that in San Sebastian "sexual assaults, confrontations and robberies have been triggered".

In defense of this, Susana Griso has used data from the Spanish Ministry of Interior of 2024, according to which 5,283 infringements have been registered this year in the city, which represents an increase compared to the last years. It should also be noted that, although the report does not mention it, the increase has occurred throughout Gipuzkoa and that Donostia-San Sebastián is not an isolated case. As responsible for these violations, the programme has presented young Maghreb people: “It is above all by a group of people [increased violations], mostly from Morocco, from North Africa, who live there, without profession or any other trade,” explains the person who makes the report, without providing evidence and without taking into account the situation of these young people.

Espejo Público comes to statements by Mayor Eneko Goia to the Chain Ser in which he assured that in the city there is a group that is committing crimes on a recurring basis, although the mayor did not specify the origin of this group. In addition, the report has interviewed several citizens and traders in the Old Party who support the thesis of insecurity. The report also shows that the members of the Public Mirror went to dinner at the KAS Plaza Nueva to create tension and criminalize the KAS. And in some streets of the Old Part there is the garbage seen every day as a sign of the “decay” of the area, despite the fact that in the Old Part Bizi has often denounced that the responsible for this situation are many hospitality establishments and municipal garbage management of the neighborhood. All of this, with voltage music.

In line with the recent report published by the Spanish Conservative newspaper ABC (San Sebastian, from urban paradise to the new Bronx of the Cantabrian Quarter), the report by the chain Hello3 advances in defense of the thesis of an insecure city that both the right and the far-right political and media want to show. As if that was the main problem of Donostia-San Sebastián and not the impossibility of buying or renting a home in the city, for example.

Reflecting this catastrophistic image of cities is not an isolated case of San Sebastian, it is something that is happening in Euskal Herria, in the Spanish State and throughout Europe, to spread discourses of hatred and fear. This is capitalised on the right and the far-right, as can be seen lately both in most local elections and in the daily speech of the major media. On the other side of the coin there are citizens who are organizing themselves voluntarily and autonomously, far from denying the problem, who explain it to their extent and who work for comprehensive solutions; in Donostia-San Sebastián, in Martutene, Herrera and Egia, among others, different agents and individuals work in this direction.