Collado Villalba: Punitive Security Policies and the Criminalization of Poverty

• The municipality of Collado Villalba, near Madrid, has implemented aggressive measures targeting the poor and migrants through mass evictions and intensified security surveillance.
• Local government has spent millions on high-tech surveillance and weaponry while maintaining some of the lowest per-capita social services funding in the region.
• Housing rights activists argue these policies represent a punitive structure designed to criminalize poverty rather than solve housing instability.

Forced Evictions and Criminalization

• On February 19, a major eviction involving 70 police officers displaced 100 people from a building owned by the SAREB (the 'bad bank').
• Local officials frequently label residents of occupied buildings as 'reoffending criminals' or 'social scourges,' fostering a narrative that links poverty and migration directly to urban insecurity.
• The municipality prioritizes rhetoric regarding 'clearing out' residents over addressing systemic issues like rising rental costs and failing local infrastructure.

Security Spending and Surveillance

• Over the past seven months, the city has invested nearly €2 million in 'security' technologies and equipment.
• Key acquisitions include:
  • A massive expansion of CCTV, aiming for 180 cameras—resulting in a ratio of 26 cameras per 10,000 residents, significantly higher than Madrid city.
  • AI-powered systems capable of tracking 'human metadata' such as age, clothing color, and backpacks.
  • €154,000 in new weaponry and additional funding for police productivity bonuses tied to sanctions.

The Technocratic Justification

• Authorities frame evictions as purely technical decisions, citing 'structural problems' or 'insanitary conditions' to neutralize political opposition.
• Activists highlight that evicted individuals are left without alternative housing or social support; one resident of a previous eviction reportedly died while living on the street shortly after being forced out.
• The strategy serves to maintain an unjust social order by designating specific groups—migrants, the homeless, and squatters—as 'dangerous subjects' to justify state violence.