Anti-social behaviour. Violence. Hooliganism. The TV, newspapers and general media here in Catalonia have all made for quite depressing reading over the summer months. There’s been a lot of finger pointing and name calling at local authorities and law enforcement agencies in general, and some local politicians, foreigners (i.e. non-Catalans) and tourists in particular. The name of one man keeps being repeated over and over though, as if it were a mantra.

Clos, Clos, Clos.

But more of Barcelona’s celebrity mayor and his local government team later.

The key incident which probably brought matters to a head locally was the violent, anti-social behaviour exhibited during the Festa Mayor de Gràcia. What was supposed to be a week long street party turned into a week of rioting and confrontation between partygoers (some of whom may be better labelled as trouble seekers …), the police and local residents. It’s not the first time that similar problems have occurred during Gràcia festivities in recent years, but this year’s will go down in memory as being one of the worst. Not necessarily because of the sheer number of incidents which took place, but for the ferocious level of violence and destruction involved.

What happened during that one week period of shame in August seemed to epitomise what is wrong with Barcelona nowadays: too many people showing a lack of respect for the environment and others around them, and a complete failure of leadership from local authorities on clamping down on a great number of anti-social behaviours - behaviours and attitudes which have become increasingly belligerent and commonplace. Local blogger John Chappell (Iberian Notes) provides a snapshot of just how out of control things had become during the Festa Mayor:

“There have been three consecutive nights of rioting here in the Gracia district of Barcelona with the excuse of the neighborhood Fiesta Mayor, which kicked off Sunday night and runs for a week. The Fiesta Mayor is a century-old tradition in which the residents of different streets compete to see who can decorate theirs most attractively. … Traditionally, the various streets hire dance bands, hold public dinners, and have puppet shows and the like. Oh, by the way, they sell beer. Lots of beer. … . What's happened over the last few years is that crowds of locals from all over the metropolitan area show up and get completely blitzkreiged, and the crowds get bigger and more violent every year. Our friends the squatters have taken over and run wild every night. Here are some quotes from La Vanguardia:

Some 300 youths faced off with the police early Wednesday morning...garbage skips were burned, motorcycles and urban furniture destroyed, several people were injured, including two regional and one local police officers, and two minors were arrested. … Garbage skips were burned and wastebaskets, portable toilets, phone booths, and other street furniture was destroyed. Some street decorations were destroyed, such as the giant sardine on Calle Tordera. Eight members of the riot squad and eight more youths were injured. Damage was estimated at €25,000. There were no arrests."

Barcelona is a city under threat of losing the image that has been so carefully nurtured by the Catalan government, Barcelona City Council and countless other bodies and agencies painting the city as a Mecca for sugar and spice and all things nice. They should all take a closer look at what is really happening on the streets of the city and the Catalan provinces of Girona, Lleida and Tarragona. Increasing immigration, excessive tourism, apathetic application of the law, racial tension, meagre punishment, pollution, graffiti, discrimination … on and on it goes. And who, frequently, gets the blame for such activities and ills? Yes, that’s right. Not the ‘natives’ but the ‘immigrants’ and those ‘we - don’t - particularly - like - you - or - want - you - here - but - we - desperately - need - your - money - because - our - local - economy - is - based - around - you - and - your - kind tourists’. That’s who.

Clos and his kind should take a good, long look into one of the gilded mirrors they no doubt have plenty of at the Ajuntament de Barcelona. Yes, there’s no denying that some problems the city is currently experiencing are because of the attitudes of some of the newcomers: the street gang mentality from south and Latin America and the ‘drink until you’re drunk until you drop’ behaviour of those low-cost airline visitors taking advantage of Barcelona’s increasingly well-founded reputation of being the ‘Bar of Europe’ for example.

There are problems in every society, clearly, and especially so within major metropolitan areas, but what doesn’t help matters here in Catalonia is a hands-off, permissive and feeble response to what is rapidly turning into a public crisis in confidence at the effectiveness and abilities of the man at whose feet a lot of the blame must lie. Mayor Joan Clos.

Clos, who is unlikely to be forgiven for his antics during the misery which befell the city during Forum 2004, has promised to spend millions (nine of them, to be precise) on dealing with acts of an uncivil nature such as prostitution, hooliganism, graffiti and begging. All fine and good - but shouldn’t he have spent that money years ago? Opposition parties within the Council, the PP and the CiU, have both pointed to Clos’ ineffectiveness. The CiU leader in the Ajuntament, Xavier Trias even went so far as to state in a recent session of the council that ‘the city is no longer in the hands of the government’.

I have a message for Joan Clos too. Shape-up or ship-out, but no more of the same. Please.