328- Identity: the
building blocks of
2. Literature
and philosophy
3. Art and
architecture
4. Performing
arts
5. Cinema
and fashion
6. Media and
communications
7. Food and drink 8. Living culture:
the details of
Safer than the average
There are still some in Spain, no doubt among an older,
perhaps more conservative generation, who go misty
eyed at the thought of Franco’s law enforcement policies.
‘He ran a tight ship’ they murmur behind closed doors,
pointing with dismay at modern Spain’s poor record on
corruption and organised crime. On the downside, of
course, there were the people who disappeared in the
night, never to return, spirited away by theguardia civilfor
some unexplained infringement, perhaps for passing the
wrong literature around or using a regional language.
Torture often came soon after. Such was the stricture of
‘National Catholicism’ and life lived under the dictatorship,
particularly in its formative years. Punishments for more
conventional crimes – theft, assault and the like – were
also often alarmingly severe.Crime rates increased significantly after Franco died, most
notably in the deprived outer limits of larger cities, where
a lawless feel sometimes still persists.Today burglaries,
theft from cars and street crime can be a problem, the
latter from pickpocketing teens to violent gang-led assault.
But hold fire on the pepper spray: in relative terms Spain
remains pleasingly safe, with crime rates significantly
below the EU average. In particular, incidences of rape and
sexual assault are rare, occurring with far less frequency
than in other European countries. Spain’s prime area of
concern is organised crime. Its long eastern shore, hard to
police, has harboured drug traffickers for decades. Many
have pushed their way into property development and, in
some instances, control of local government. Spain has
also lived with terrorism longer than most of us, thanks
largely to ETA, but everyday security shouldn’t keep you
awake.8.5 Within the law: crime, courts and the police