Interview.Antoni Cañete: "The Catalan economic world has said that it does not want its institutions to be politicized"
Riots: Looting of shops and burning barricades on the fifth night of riots in Barcelona
Analysis.The anti-system Generalitat
Long time pride of the Barcelona bourgeoisie, with its modernist palaces and Gaudí's buildings-monuments, its somewhat provincial inspiration in the Champs Elysees in Paris, the shops and luxury hotels, these days Paseo de Gracia offers the image of a territory devastated by the
Catalan
kale borroka
: shops such as Versace and La Perla forced to protect themselves with wooden plates from the vandals, painted calling for the overthrow of "capital", insulting the police and with s
separatist and anarchist imbology: the armored Stock Exchange so that it is not looted again and many of the premises decorated with posters that announce their transfer or rent at a bargain price, compared to a year ago. the pandemic of
coronavirus
, which emptied the city of tourists and forced the closure of establishments that were presumed flourishing before the
Covid-19
-with an average reduction in rents of around 30% -, in addition to the considerable damage that has occurred during these two weeks of violence carried out by pro-independence and anti-establishment activists, after the entrance
in prison
of
Paul Hasel
The rapper's luck has served as an alibi to set Barcelona on fire again and subject it to the dictates of violence.
As happened in 2017, 2018 and 2019, with Paseo de Gracia chosen as the center of mass demonstrations in favor of the
independence of Catalonia
or protests calling for the freedom of "political prisoners", gradually converting the
golden mile
from Barcelona, the traditional boulevard of "the rich" in front of the most rogue and popular "Las Ramblas", in a vulgar weekend manifestodrome.
Losses of 1.4 million euros
While waiting for new disturbances to be repeated in the concentrations that have been called by social networks for this Saturday, only in the Paseo de Gracia, the most expensive shopping street after the Portal del Ángel, it is estimated that the losses in two weeks exceed 1.4 million euros, specifically, about 77,000 euros in graffiti cleaning, a million for the breakdown of 130 shop windows and furniture and 258,000 euros in items stolen in 14 stores.
Losses that merchants will be forced to face in many cases, because insurance, always elusive, does not cover this type of attack. The riots of recent weeks, and the impunity with which the hooded men of different sign act, has led merchants in the area to raise their voices and demand that the Government of the Generalitat and the city council of
Ada Colau
take urgent measures to stop the violent The public representative of this collective complaint is
Luis Sans
, owner of the historic Santa Eulalia clothing store, founded in 1843, and president of the Paseo de Gracia Owner's Association.
"We are sad to see our street devastated and dismayed by the lack of condemnation by the Government of the Generalitat; at least Colau, although late, has taken a stand against violence," he says.
"A long history of street violence"
This perplexity at the lack of reaction, at a time when
ERC
Y
JxCat
they negotiate with the
CUP
The constitution of the new Executive is common in the main Catalan economic sectors, which last Thursday presented a manifesto demanding that, given the deterioration of the image of Barcelona, the Generalitat and the city council exercise their "democratic authority" to recover "coexistence and peace in the streets. "In this sense, Sans recalls that episodes of street violence have been taking place in Barcelona for a long time, such as the demonstrations against the Bologna Plan in 2009, the altercations after the arrest in Germany of
Carles puigdemont
or in 2018 after
guilty verdict
to the leaders of the
you process
by the
Supreme court
"We come from a long history of street violence, which is now increasing in intensity. This can make us lose talent, investments and quality tourism that we need to get out of the pandemic crisis as we get used to seeing the streets of the city burned. Why What do we have to get used to because this should be like this? Politicians don't have the courage to say enough and do what needs to be done with violence, "he says. A refusal to resign that he shares
Lourdes gaude
, Marketing Director of the Mandarin Oriental, a hotel that is preparing to reopen in a week after closing due to the pandemic.
"Reopening is the best message we can give, as it is to regain calm in the city," he says.
A desire shared by the merchants of a
golden mile
doubly beaten.
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