“Greet, as the Madagascar penguins,” jokes one of the graffiti artists who has decided to commute the fine to paint the city walls with the only substitute work that allows them, since the municipal regulations changed last December, redeeming the … Economic sanction: Clean graphite walls. This team of six offenders, dressed in a monkey, a municipal vest, a cap and a mask that makes them almost unrecognizable, did not have the best of the lots yesterday, because they had to repaint one of the sides of the Plaza de Juan Muñoz in front of the delegate of Urban Planning Environment and Mobility, Borja Carabante, who came to supervise the work, and more than one Media cameras.
In a way, a double punishment that has not avoided that these young people, under the condition of maintaining anonymity, exposed the councilor for their claims. The penalty asked one of the members of this cleaning patrol, “it must be proportional to the graffiti, a whole wall is not the same as a signature.” «In addition, we would have to look for Tools for graffiti not to look like something vandalism. We are not thieves, ”he claimed this young man, who also requested available spaces where to develop his passion.
«One thing is urban art and another dirty. We spend twelve million euros a year to clean graffiti. There are places where it can be done authorizedly and the work is respected and can even be maintained, ”Carabante replied. From the Consistory they point out that there are programs for the promotion of this art in an orderly manner, such as ‘sharing walls’, and that the districts also manage other spaces. «Excuse me, but I must say that in Madrid there are no walls of such or are not available. Sometimes when we paint people also insult us or try to denigrate. We also have the right to express our art, ”they said before covering in gray what was previously a multicolored signatures wall.
Since the beginning of this substitute program, 33 graffiti artists have already switched their penalty for these cleaning tasks. In total, they have already done 1,228 hours of work, which has allowed them to get rid of 64,100 euros of fines. 76% of participants are men, and most of them (61%) are between 18 and 29 years old. 15 % are minors, so they have to do these cleaning tasks accompanied by their legal tutors. 33 % of participants have university studies and all, except one, reside in Madrid. Most were sanctioned in Moncloa-Aravaca (ten), Latina (six), Carabanchel (five), center (three), Fuencarral-El Pardo (two), Barajas (two), Arganzuela (one), Hortaleza (one), Moratalaz (one), San Blas-Canillejas (one) and Vicálvaro (one).
-Up to 60 hours
The number of work hours to roller is based on the sanction received. In these first cases, it has ranged among the 14 hours made by a person who was sanctioned with 400 euros until the 60 hours they dedicated Eight people with 3,000 euros. These debutants have eliminated a total of 2,625 square meters of graffiti in Fuencarral-El Pardo, Villa de Vallecas, Arganzuela, Hortaleza, Carabanchel, San Blas-Canillejas and linear city. “It is an important work because it not only repairs the damage executed, but it makes the offenders of cleaning prescribers,” said the delegate of Urban Planning, Environment and Mobility, who also stressed that they receive training to do these tasks in safety conditions and civic talks.
For the Consistory, the impact of this measure is very satisfactory: 91% of the sanctioned positively value this initiative and 61% consider that their level of knowledge of the regulations has improved. “It is a relief to be able to commute a fine of this amount, in my case 3,000 euros, for hours of work, taking into account that a kid of our age does not have that ability to generate income, and less as the house is and everything today,” says one of the offenders, a 26 -year -old teacher who hunted painting some friends in a park. He has already been redeemed from his penalty. «There are missing sites to be able to legally paint, right now the places ceded are minimal or null. Or do not inform the community, ”says the young man.
A community that, by the way, is more varied than we think: «It is believed that the average graffitero is a 15 -year kid without concerns that is dedicated to bothering. And it is quite the opposite, there are people from 10 to 50 years, with family and children, who has long done this for passion and taste. The graffiti is inherent in fines. It is, so to speak, a matter of love of art ». In fact, he dares to give his own prediction about when the wall that they covered yesterday of gray paint in just half an hour will be scribbled again: “I do not give more than one or two days.”
