The situation – who generates great insecurity among neighbors- turned into a political confrontation between Madrid City Hall and the Community (both governed by the Popular Party) and the Government Delegation and the Ministry of the Interior of Fernando Grande-Marlaska.
The Madrid authorities are calling for more troops on particularly problematic dates. The data is here: During Christmas Eve and Christmas 2025, 3,266 incidents were committed which required the intervention of the municipal police, firefighters and Samur.. Of these, 31 were linked to assault and 204 were directly linked to drinking in public.
The figure should be higher on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Eve, as is tradition, and that is why the City Hall of the capital and the Ayuso Government have asked the Government delegate in Madrid, Francisco Martinmore efficient.
Regarding the number of police officers, the data provided so far by the Spanish government estimates the number of national agents who will work during the day and night of December 31 at 500.
The Government Delegation and Madrid City Hall will present their updated plan this Tuesday, December 30 and will specify more details.
Crimes on the rise
Police have been one of the main sticking points between the administrations since their first meetings a few months ago. Madrid City Hall and the regional government consider the deployment planned for a night when tens of thousands of people gather in the center of the capital insufficient. especially in a context marked by the rise in knife violence.
The deputy mayor and delegate for security and emergencies, Inma Sanz, was particularly harsh with the government delegate in Madrid. Sanz went so far as to state that “if he is not able to maintain security and ensure that such situations do not occur in the city of Madrid, the best thing he can do is to resign.”
During a press conference this Monday, the deputy mayor criticized him for his “failure in his duties” and recalled that, even if Madrid “is one of the safest cities in the world”, delinquency is increasing. “The person most responsible for the safety of citizens in our city is the Government delegate.”
From the Government Delegation, Francisco Martín responded by accusing the Popular Party of showing “simplicity and populism” in matters of security.
The delegate insisted that this is a “serious and responsible policy” and criticized the contradiction that, according to him, popular leaders maintain. “They go so far as to say that the Community of Madrid is safer than ever, while asking resignation of the head of security of the Community of Madrid. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
Martín defended that Madrid “is an increasingly secure region”, although he recognized that serious events are occurring which are “deplored and condemned” and which are fought by “the professionalism of the forces and state security organs”.
In this sense, he assured that the police “are currently at the historical maximum number of troops in the Community of Madrid”, with growth greater than the increase in population.
According to data provided by the Delegation, there are currently 2,100 more police officers than in 2018, which represents an increase of 11%, and a rate of officers per thousand inhabitants higher than that of seven years ago.
The delegate concluded by calling for institutional collaboration. “We will continue to work with the maximum conviction and the maximum courage in favor of security, coexistence and also interinstitutional collaboration, to see if for once we find ourselves on the other side with the hand extended by those responsible for the PP of the Community of Madrid”, he concluded.
The Community of Madrid is not satisfied. It is for this reason that the Minister of Presidency, Justice and Local Administration, Miguel García Martín, once again demanded from the Ministry of the Interior and the Government Delegation “more and better resources” for the National Police and the Civil Guard after the last four stabbing attacks recorded in the region.
García Martín recalled that this is an assertion that the Regional Executive has been making “for a long time” and highlighted that “in less than a week” there have been four deaths due to stabbing fights in Madrid.
Safety Protocol for New Year’s Eve
Tense meeting. The deployment for grapes and proofs was closed after an extraordinary coordination meeting convened after, during the ordinary meeting of the Christmas campaign, the device could not be finalized. The meeting was marked by controversy and the government delegation declared that the operation had been carried out with “little margin”.
500 soldiers. With all this, the security system will maintain a similar pattern to that of previous years. Puerta del Sol will be completely evacuated at 9:00 p.m. and access will be reopened from 10 p.m. through safety filters and pre-filters until reaching a maximum capacity of 15,000 people. This figure is lower than in previous years due to the installation of the stage for the musical performance planned for the evening.
Mobility. The exits of the metro and Cercanías de Sol stations will remain closed from 6:00 p.m. Cercanías trains will not stop at this station, although internal circulation will be allowed on the metro network to facilitate travel. These measures will be supplemented by the coordination of different transport operators and emergency services to respond quickly to any incident.
The political clash over the strengthening of security comes after a particularly tragic week in the Community of Madrid. There were four knife crimes in the capital on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. One every twelve hours.
The last one happened on Friday in Usera. A man in his sixties died there. The National Police arrested the alleged perpetrator of the attack, a friend of the victim, after his first testimony presented contradictions. The attack occurred around 9 a.m. on the landing of the building, where the man received a stab wound to the thigh which caused him to go into cardiac arrest.
In addition to this crime, three others occurred in 48 hours. On Christmas Eve, a 17-year-old boy died after being stabbed on Lagartera Street, Puente de Vallecas, around 2 a.m. Samur-Protection Civile paramedics found him in cardiorespiratory arrest with a left hemithorax.
A few hours later, around 5:40 a.m., a 63-year-old man died on Alonso Cano Street, in Chamberí, from several stab wounds which also caused irreversible cardiorespiratory arrest.
The fourth death occurred on Christmas Day in Leganés, where Police have arrested a man as the alleged perpetrator of the death of his 54-year-old brother, after a heated argument in a house on Alpujarras Street.
It was the neighbors who alerted 091 after hearing the fight. When the police arrived, the victim had stab wounds and showed no signs of life.
In this context of violence and open political debate on the troops available, Madrid faces the last night of the year with a first operation of 500 agents at Puerta del Sol and with security at the center of the institutional confrontation between administrations.
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