DistantNews
Support us
🇪🇸 Spain /Crime & Justice

Manresa, a score of young people and a city gripped by fear

From La Vanguardia · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Young women working in Manresa’s bars use a WhatsApp group and location sharing to avoid walking home alone at night.
  • Residents say a recent homicide intensified fears and fueled anti-immigration rhetoric, although police data show reported crime has fallen 6% this year.
  • Some residents say fear has changed their routines, despite acknowledging that they have not personally suffered assaults or robberies.

Young women working in bars around Manresa’s Plaça Major no longer head home alone after their shifts. They coordinate through a WhatsApp group, accompany one another and share their locations so others know where they are and whether they have arrived safely.

I have stopped going out onto the street calmly. And my friends have too.

· PepitaThe 94-year-old resident describes how fear has changed her routine.

“This is not an urban legend. It is fear,” the article says. That fear, mixed with helplessness and exhaustion, spilled into the streets after the killing of Carles Vilajosana Arocas, a 45-year-old gardener from Castellnou de Bages who was the father of twins and widely known in the region. The homicide also brought anti-immigration hate speech into the city, despite the fact that the two minors detained over the killing were born and raised in Manresa.

Residents describe an unease that has altered daily life. Pepita, 94, says she has stopped walking the streets calmly, while Blasi Mellado, 74, says she and her husband no longer consider going out at night. Neither has been assaulted or robbed. They nevertheless feel intimidated, and the article observes that once fear takes hold, it is difficult to remove.

It has all become very ugly. I am afraid too, and at night we do not even think about going out.

· Blasi MelladoThe resident says she and her husband avoid going out after dark.

Official figures from the Mossos d’Esquadra and Manresa’s Urban Police point in another direction: reported offenses have fallen 6% so far this year. Those figures and official messages have not reassured residents who say they have changed their habits. Àngels Valls, a 58-year-old bar owner born in Manresa, carries pepper spray and is considering leaving the city. She says she has never before felt such fear walking through the center at night.

They can tell me whatever they want. They have let a city that used to be peaceful fall apart.

· Àngels VallsThe Manresa bar owner criticizes the city’s situation and says she is considering leaving.
About this summary

Originally published by La Vanguardia in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog