The presence of Italian mafias in Spanish cities (Barcelona, Tarragona, Madrid, Valencia, Eivissa, Malaga…) It has been detected by the different police forces for years. In the last decade, both the activity and the number of members of the Cosa Nostra (the Sicilian mafia), the Camorra (Neapolitan) and the ‘Ndrangheta (Calabrian) have been increasing, to the point that Spain is currently considered an external base of Italian organized crime. From time to time a police operation that reminds us of its existence jumps to the media, such as the arrest in August 2021 of Domenico Paviaglianiti, the head of the ‘Ndrangheta, in Madrid, but generally its presence is so discreet that it can go unnoticed. unnoticed. Spain has not stood out so far because it is the scene of violent clan fights, but rather a refuge for fleeing police persecution in their country of origin, who try to blend in as part of the extensive Italian community in our country. There is another important reason to settle in Spain, which are the possibilities offered by the ports of Barcelona and Valencia. for the illegal business of drug trafficking, and the links with Latin America and the Maghreb. Cocaine and hashish trafficking and money laundering through the purchase of homes and restaurants and other businesses concentrate the activity of the Italian mafias in the Peninsula.
The attractiveness of Spain for international organized crime is quite a challenge for the country’s security forces, which have already created specific groups to combat them. If a few decades ago drug trafficking was concentrated in national clans, the establishment of foreign mafias represents a change in the game in which international police collaboration is essential. Networks such as Interpol and Europol facilitate this cooperation between the different police forces, with the exchange of relevant information that has made it possible to dismantle some mafia groups and the complex business and tax networks in which they hide. Being this good collaboration, the truth is that Spain has not managed to get rid of the condition of being a refuge for gangsters. It is worrisome that this is the case, because if so far they have tried to keep a low profile, This does not reduce the danger of these mafias, whose criminal activity is more evident in their countries of origin, nor does it prevent them from can expand their business to other illegal activities in the Spanish cities where they are established.
The persecution of organized crime is based on three legs: the police, the legal and the judicial. It happens that the three do not always act at the same pace: the police forces ask for speed and forcefulness to capture the criminals, while the justice system can lengthen the processes until making them ineffective. Spanish legislation is also more lax than in the countries where the mafias are from. AND criminals benefit from all of this. Without abandoning the obligatory democratic guarantees, it should be possible to review everything that fails in the system in order to act with the same speed with which criminals act, streamlining procedures and adapting laws, so that the mafias (Italian or not) are no longer invisible in our country.