In recent months, racist raids have intensified markedly in the San Francisco neighborhood. We've seen young Maghreb people glued to the wall, surrounded by about thirty people in the evening. The words of insecurity and risk have been heard aloud, and the answer has been police operations. On the lateral wall of the Kantstay Bridge we read “too many immigrants” (sic) and on another wall “too many foreigners for our language”. Terrible phrases and messages as cruel as dangerous. On the walls we have read many times the concerns of the citizens, the messages and the demands, because the walls also speak in our environment. Creative sometimes and rigorous sometimes. At a time when freedom of expression is very expensive, we have had to clean the glasses and read the messages twice.

We know that the San Francisco neighborhood is in the center of Bilbao, which is a different neighborhood, which is diverse and where people from different places in the world come together. SOS Racism has made this clear in recent months: the Municipal Police of Bilbao, a young Maghreb, has put a particular collective in the spotlight. But the opinion of the newly created San Francisco neighborhood association is very different. Since the summer they have said that there are more burglaries in the neighborhood and that the situation has changed rapidly. A collection of signatures on the website Change.org has been launched with the motto “State of Emergency in San Francisco”. It explains that they have a great “insecurity” and a “fear”. They call for "applause" and an increase in the presence of the Municipal Police and Ertzaintza agents. Basically, they want the neighborhood to be "safe" and the police to control and work harder to achieve it. Almost four thousand signatories have joined today’s demonstration. They say that what's happening has nothing to do with racism, but they're spreading risky messages if fear mixes with a particular neighborhood.

We all know the photograph of the neighborhoods of Bilbao la Vieja, San Francisco and Zabala. In 2013, the City Council of Bilbao installed surveillance cameras on San Francisco Street, logically, for control. The control measure was criticized by the bilbaínos, whom we invite to participate as a television reality. Time has made it clear that cameras have been put in place to control other movements. Now we all have the camera in our hand, on our mobile phone, and that is also being used by members of the association “SanFran auzokideak”. On social media they publish videos and photos, and yes, we have to recognize that the scenes are uncomfortable and desolate.

Security has nothing to do with either racist raids or mass registers. With this kind of attitude, some people are being criminalised and the environment is being further degraded, targeting certain communities and always with the help of certain media. It will take more social justice, less speculation, more resources, more coexistence, less segregation and more equality to give a satisfactory answer to the problem among all.

As for the resources available, the City of Bilbao will have a budget of 562 million in 2019. How much money will it spend on helping people in situations of social exclusion? It's a zero on the left. Increase the staff of the Municipal Police to ensure security. There will also be large items for large investments. In Bilbao, the unemployment rate stands at 15%. The problem will therefore not be solved with more security, either with more cameras or with more controls.

Unfortunately, it goes beyond San Francisco Street. We will not change anything if we stand behind fear and danger. The model encourages the multiplication of such situations, not only in Bilbao, but throughout Europe. While some of us live well, we criminalize half of the world's population. Without welcoming him, we walk away, we throw him in the corner, we walk him away. We use the walls to denounce that they are too many, without realizing our excesses. We're in a state of emergency. We're in Bilbao, not in California.

This review article has been published by El Salto and we have brought it to ARGIA thanks to the CC-by-sa license.