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Madrid Social Center Becomes Focus for Clashes on Immigration, Welfare

Reuters

   MADRID - A reception centerfor minorsin Madrid became the focus for
   clashing views on immigration and social welfare Thursday, aday
   afterpolice defused a grenade found there.

   The row around the center, in the suburb ofHortaleza,
   crystallizedworriesaboutimmigration and insecuritythathelped the
   far-right Vox party double its result in last month's election to
   become the third-biggest bloc in parliament.

   Vox repeatedly singled out the centerduring the campaign, with party
   leader Santiago Abascal denouncing "criminal foreign youngsters." Last
   month, an extreme right-wing group calledHogarSocial staged a protest
   at the gates, demanding the center's closure to restore "security."

   Police have made no arrests and some officials say gang violence may
   also have been behind the incident --with the device most likely thrown
   over the walls in a bag, according toTedax, the Spanish police bomb
   squad. The grenade contained a minimal explosive charge, and no one was
   hurt.

   Dangerous climate
   But government spokeswoman IsabelCelaasaid the inflammatory rhetoric
   from Vox, which staged a visit to the area by party spokeswoman Rocio
   Monasterio during the campaign, had created a dangerous climate.
   "Words are ultimately internalized and intoxicate our consciences," she
   told reporters. "We don't like thesewords. We believe they incite
   certain behaviors from citizens which are not desirable in a country
   which desires social cohesion and peace for all."
   With Spain's Socialist party still struggling to form a government
   after the election and separatist riots in Catalonia fresh in
   collective memory, Wednesday's incident has added to a volatile
   political climate in Spain.
   The center houses around 90 youngsters, most from North Africa, as well
   as some Spaniards. Several residents appeared wary, although according
   to city authorities,Hortalezahas some of the lowest crime rates in
   Madrid.
   "I don't feel safe passing by the center's gates alone," said Elizabeth
   Lopez-Vega, 34, who said a young man she was told lived in thecenterhad
   tried to steal her mobile phone last week.

   'Nobody is teaching them'
   "They need more social educators," she said. "Nobody is integrating
   them intosocietyand nobody is teaching them a thing."
   Social workers say the center is run down, although it no longer
   suffers from the severe overcrowding it faced earlier this year, when
   minors were forced to sleep on the floor.
   But they feel "singled out, like a cross has been painted on our door,"
   said one social workerwho asked to remain anonymous. "We're tired,
   afraidand fed up."

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