DANIEL SOMOLINOS Madrid
Madrid
Updated Wednesday, February 21, 2024-00:14
Graffiti and graffiti are already part of Madrid's urban landscape, so much so that most of them go unnoticed by the citizen. Facades, traffic lights, bus stops, garbage containers... Any minimal clean space becomes the perfect
canvas
to leave your mark
, without assessing the damage, both economic and image, that it generates in the city.
The progression of this trend is dizzying: in 2021, municipal cleaning services removed 167,693 square meters of vandalistic graffiti, something that increased by 92% in 2022, with 321,862 square meters stained. In 2023, and until November alone,
561,500 square meters were cleaned, 72% more
than the previous year. A dynamic that continues to explode.
With the aim of stopping these acts, the Madrid City Council has strengthened its so-called
anti-graffiti unit
, providing it with
39 troops
who are divided into groups of 12, in morning, afternoon and night shifts. Created in November 2023, the Urban Heritage Protection Section of the Municipal Police (Sepropur) seeks to bring the perpetrators to justice with this
newly launched "24-hour" service.
"During the day there is a lot of police intelligence work, but when
most of the graffiti and vandalism is carried out it is at night.
With night street work is when they are caught
red-handed
the most ," María Luisa Robles tells this newspaper. , head of the Environment and Urban Planning Department of the Madrid Municipal Police.
This unit receives daily notices of new graffiti that arrive from the district police stations. They also monitor
these graffiti by drawing risk maps
, which help them locate the field of action through which the
artists
move , tightening their circle and facilitating surveillance on the ground.
An agent investigates new graffiti in front of his computer.J. BARBANCHO
"They leave their trace. Our mission is to associate these signatures with their authors, something we achieve by contrasting images from both public and private cameras and, in many cases,
thanks to the work of calligraphic expertise
," says Robles, noting that they also have artificial intelligence programs that
help them in screening, among thousands of graffiti
, that may belong to the same author.
In its three months of existence, Seporpur has carried out more reports on graffiti (31) than in the rest of 2023 (from January to October, 17 reports).
It has also processed 58 files, 55 complaints
and has 12 investigated, with three referrals to the Prosecutor's Office.
The last
hunt
took place during the early hours of this past Friday. A group of six twenty-somethings painted graffiti (or
tags
, as it is known in street slang)
in the Plaza de la Villa
, both on the buildings at the back and on the sculpture in the plaza that faces Calle del Rollo. After viewing the images that had immortalized the graffiti artists in action, the agents began to comb through the photo in search of this group, of whom they already knew how they were dressed. Finally
they intercepted them in Puente Segovia , and several
sprays
were used on them immediately
. Some of them even admitted to the agents that they had been responsible. That "they were partying" and that, to top off the night, they wanted to leave their signatures around the city.
In their case, a report was opened in which they appear as being investigated for an alleged crime of damage to historical heritage. A judge will assess whether it is processed through administrative means (when the building is not protected and the cleaning cost does not exceed 400 euros), facing financial sanctions that
can reach up to 3,000 euros
, or through criminal means (depending on whether the façade looks good after being cleaned or if there are marks left, and if the damage caused exceeds 400 euros). In this last extreme,
sentences of between six months and three years in prison
are also considered , leaving a criminal record.
very expensive damage
From this unit they explain how they recently requested an expert to assess the damage caused to a façade, and the cost of the
graffiti ("small, 50x50") was around 1,500 - 2,000 euros
. "It depends a lot on the surface, the material used... and the place. Sometimes they are very high and the cleaning services have to reach the place in question."
As a general rule, these urban artists usually opt for areas that are very visible or striking. "If you drive on the M-30 or M-40
you will see graffiti on the bridges
. Although also on white vans, on the walls of convents and churches... Even in a waiting room inside a hospital," explains Israel Lecta, sub-inspector. from Sepropur, who adds: "They put themselves at risk many times, and also the drivers themselves.
If you are behind the wheel and suddenly see someone hanging there
... You can get confused."
To reach those places that seem impossible, inaccessible to ordinary people, they usually use two methods:
either the hanging technique, with harnesses
, or with extendable poles from below.
"The dirt they generate is evident, as is the damage to heritage. Sometimes it is very difficult to recover. But they also cause a feeling of insecurity. Certain areas or tunnels, at night, can cause citizens not real insecurity,
but a feeling that greatly affects the neighbor and their daily lives
," says Chief Robles.
An agent in a tunnel full of graffiti next to the Plaza de los Cubos.JAVIER BARBANCHO
Although these graffiti are present in all the neighborhoods of all the districts of the capital, the dirt on the walls of the Center stands out especially. A walk around
Malasaña or Chueca
gives a good idea of this. There are even affected businesses that avoid repainting their façade and making it presentable because
"in two days it will be the same."
The rise of Madrid and its internalization has caused, according to police sources, that tourists and foreigners see
painting in the capital "as a medal
. "
"The city is in fashion. More and more people come to leave their signature on our walls," they point out, clarifying that, contrary to what one might think, "the vast majority" of these authors "come from a pasta family." "
Colored graffiti where the letters are filled in can cost 100 euros.
Each
spray
is between six and 10 euros... It's expensive."
Sepropur joins the new Public Urgent Cleaning Service (Selur), enabled by the Environment and Mobility Area in September 2022, which increased its budget by 158% (-
going from investing 8.9 million to 23 million
, almost six of these millions reserved for the graffiti issue -) and 69% its staff to eliminate graffiti, extending its field of action to metal, methacrylate and plastic surfaces, which until then were not covered.