The PSOE continues to take steps to try to rebuild bridges with Junts. This Wednesday, like last week, the Socialists voted again with PP, Vox and Junts to promote the reform of the Penal Code which would toughen sanctions against thieves who repeatedly commit minor thefts. The difference is that, this time, the standard passed its penultimate parliamentary examination with this very large majority and is ready to receive the green light from the plenary session of the Congress, the final approval it needs before being sent to the Senate for final approval. Only Sumar, EH Bildu and Podemos voted against, while ERC – extremely uncomfortable on this issue – abstained.
Wednesday’s vote in the Congressional Justice Committee was not a surprise, but the confirmation of an alliance between the two major parties which took shape last week behind closed doors. The PSOE then decided to support all the amendments presented by PP and Junts to the law on multiple recidivism promoted by Carles Puigdemont and to accelerate the processing of the law. This initiative is one of those that Junts has most ardently defended since the start of the legislature and, above all, since the emergence of the far-right independence party of Aliança Catalana, which maintains an openly racist discourse and favorable to a heavy hand in matters of security.
The socialists, who until a few weeks ago blocked the reform, changed strategy following Puigdemont’s decision to break relations with them. to try to reconnect with the separatists. However, this recalibration was also influenced by the push of Salvador Illa’s PSC in Catalonia, which considers multiple recidivism as one of the priorities of his government, and by the hypothesis of certain voices of socialism – notably Catalan – according to which the party must enter fully into the security debate. Some voices from the CPS even advocate a differentiation of data on multiple recidivism according to nationality, even if this approach is, for the moment, in the minority within the training.
With the approval in committee of the opinion – that is, of the law with the amendments presented by the groups – this Wednesday, the text is ready to receive the green light from the plenary session of the Congress, which will probably happen next February, given that January is a non-working day at the parliamentary level. If there are no surprises, and if all the parties that have supported it so far maintain their support, the tightening of the Penal Code will be one of the laws that will receive the most votes in favor of this legislature: between PP, PSOE, Vox, Junts, PNV and UPN total 303 seats of the 350 in Congress.
Up to three years in prison
The law on multiple recidivism essentially aims to toughen penalties in the event of theft in two cases: when there is multiple recidivism and when the stolen object is a cell phone or other electronic device. Concretely, Junts is committed to modifying the Penal Code so that a penalty of up to three years in prison is applied to those who commit criminal acts. repeated flightsalthough the total amount of what was stolen does not amount to 400 euros, or steal cell phones or other electronic devices. Likewise, the text includes a provision aimed at reforming the Code of Criminal Procedure so that municipalities can carry out criminal proceedings when the public prosecutor does not do so.
In addition to giving the green light to most of the text, last week IThe majority of the PP, PSOE and Junts agreed on six amendments to modify certain points of the original bill. Among other things, the three parties agreed to apply more severe sanctions also to those who repeat the crime of fraud three or more times, as well as to introduce into the Penal Code the crime of supplying fuel to the means of transport used by drug traffickers to introduce drugs into Spain, known as petaqueo. This last question, which has nothing to do with the rest of the law on multiple recidivism, is the only one on which there was unanimity from all parties.
During the debate in committee this Wednesday, Junts defended that the law that was left ready for approval “is not theoretical or ideological, but rather surgical and practical”, and his deputy Marta Madrenas maintained that “it is essential to put an end to impunity for this type of crimes” because “today a person can commit dozens and dozens of thefts every day without ever going to prison.” The PSOE expressed itself in the same sense, ensuring that we must fight against the “feeling of impunity” citizens facing these thefts, even if he recommended taking “global action” which does not only envisage the strengthening of the Penal Code.
For his part, Sumar defended that the problem of multiple recidivism can only be solved with more investment in the administration of justice to streamline the courts and also with more social programs that keep the “robagallinas” – in the words of deputy Enrique Santiago – away from crime. Along the same lines, EH Bildu argued that tackling repeated thefts with heavier penalties is not only “disproportionate”, but will also be useless, because – said its parliamentarian Jon Iñarritu – heavier penalties are not a deterrent for this type of thieves.
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