Telemadrid, immigration and the Police Confederation

You may recall that last year, on the anniversary of the 11M bombings, Telemadrid, a TV station controlled by the PP's Esperanza Aguirre and her regional government, chose to mark the day and honour the victims by broadcasting a 'documentary' which gave credence to the most absurd conspiracy theory I've ever read. Basically, it supported the idea that the Socialist party had pacted with ETA to carry out the Madrid bombings so that they could win the elections a few days later and continue with their plan to 'destroy Spain'.

The other day, Telemadrid's magic realism department broadcast another 'documentary' which was designed to incite anger (and votes) against the PSOE. Investigating a plot to smuggle immigrants into Spain via a service corridor in Madrid's Barajas airport,the Telemadrid programme claimed that 'countless' immigrants are still flowing into Spain via this secret door. All this despite the journalists who made the film knowing full well that the Colombian gang who had been running people through this access route was liquidated by the police in July, and that security has been increased since the smuggling technique was discovered. [Video from El País, in Spanish]

More worryingly, journalist Laura Gómez used a hidden camera to film her 'secret arrival' in Spain using the door in question. "We're now in Spain!" she declared as she strolled through the security door. But she neglected to mention that the door's security measures had already been disabled for her by none other than Rodrigo Gavilán, spokesman for the 'Spanish Police Confederation' and fierce critic of the Socialist government. CCTV from the airport shows Gavilán and a uniformed police officer (now suspended) interfering with security measures before Gómez swanned through, but this footage never made it to the final cut of the 'documentary'. Shame.

In a nutshell then, Telemadrid has yet again used subterfuge, misinformation, lies and misleading footage in an attempt to smear the Socialist government. And they chose their target very carefully. Because there are illegal immigrants who arrive in Spain, but a lot of them come via routes which don't need them to pass through some secret corridor in Barajas. The PP and their TV station  know full well that Spain's enormous coastline, proximity to Africa and custodianship of the Canary islands are all major factors affecting the level of immigration to Spain, for which it is still difficult to blame the Socialists (I'm sure they'll give it a go soon though). So to make immigration a real election issue, they had to partially fabricate a documentary, again, in their pursuit of mistruth.

The sad thing is that they broadcast it just too late to be nominated for an Oscar. Can we hope for a Best Supporting Actress gong for Laura Gómez in next year's ceremony?

By the way, this Gavilán is an interesting fellow. He's spokesman for the 'Spanish Police Confederation', outspoken in his attacks on the government's immigration policy and something of a talk-show regular, where he likes to make political remarks and complain about the politicisation of the police service. He has also publicly alleged that left-wing groups and the students' union are 'friends' of Batasuna and ETA, though he presented no evidence to support this claim. Incidentally, this 'Confederation' is little more than a far-right wing pressure group with links to the Spanish Legion and Los Peones Negros,  and it was also at least partly responsible for disseminating the 11M conspiracy theory… and so, it all comes full circle.

Of course, police officers should have the right to form professional and labour organisations. But when these are used to promote anti-democratic propaganda, with the direct collusion of the so-called 'centrist' PP, well… these creeping tentacles of right-wing activism worry me.

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