Casuals has become one of the main proper names in police and judicial chronicles in recent years in Catalonia. The Mossos d'Esquadra baptized as Hydra the last of the operations against this criminal group whose roots are found in the stands of the Fútbol Club Barcelona. Like the mythological serpent with several heads, when it seemed that they had controlled one of the branches of the investigation, another would appear, leading them to a new crime or another to new suspicions.

After a year and a half of investigations, last Friday the Catalan police dealt a new blow to this gang, to which they attribute the crimes of homicide, kidnapping, cultivation and trafficking of marijuana, threats, injuries, extortion, public disorder and criminal organization. .

The agents arrested 28 people and seized several white and firearms, including katanas and a Thompson submachine gun.. But the blow was not complete. The Mossos Special Intervention Group broke into the home of the leader of the Casuals, Ricardo Mateo, early in the morning, whom they did not find. On the other hand, another of the main lieutenants of the group was arrested, Francisco Pérez, known as Paco el gordo, who in the previous days had already made headlines for the telephone conversation in which he threatened one of the radical fans of Espanyol who jumped onto the field to prevent Barça from celebrating the League title after the last derby in Cornellà. The historical member of the Casuals forced him to remove a tattoo from his arm if he did not want to be stabbed.

Soccer, in which they apply the same intimidation techniques to their rivals as in their criminal activities (they planned to beat up Joan Laporta in his first term as president of Barcelona), ceased to be the main field a little over two decades ago. game for the Casuals, born in the early nineties as an autonomous animation group linked to the Boixos Nois, the most violent followers of the Barça club.

The casual phenomenon, like so many youth subcultures, had its cradle in the United Kingdom, where some hooligans varied their way of dressing in order not to be so easily identifiable.. Their team jerseys, which they used to wear to the field, began to be replaced by polo shirts, shirts, and baseball caps.. The stands of the Camp Nou was the gateway to Spain in this fashion. In their “information sheet number 1”, in which they presented themselves in society, the Casuals defined their style through “unusual and sporty clothing” to distance themselves “from the urban tribes”, which at that time, in the backgrounds of the stadiums, had skinheads as the predominant element.

Presentation of the FCB Casuals three decades ago.

The adoption of the name of that new section of the radical fans of Barça is not in response to an alleged desire to camouflage its members. This was demonstrated by the banner with the Casuals FCB signature, and the double rhombus of the logo of the British clothing brand Umbro in the center, which accompanied them in the matches. The denomination acted more like a seal of quality with which to become strong in the stadiums and their surroundings, which ended up becoming a training ground for mafia practices unrelated to soccer, to which in a few years they ended up exporting their violent and expeditious methods of coercion.

drug robberies

The first activities of their extensive criminal history for which they had to answer before the Justice were the so-called overturns, that is, the theft of drugs from dealers. Posing as civil guards with material provided by a member of the armed institute, Mateo and his subordinates did not hesitate to give beatings if necessary.. Sometimes, as in a 2003 episode, cruelty reached the point of cutting off a drug dealer's finger.

Extortion was also the modus operandi used in famous Barcelona nightlife venues, whose owners were forced to hire them to take care of security if they did not want to have problems inside the rooms.

One of the most reliable signs of the feeling of impunity with which the Casuals were used, and continue to be used, was the confrontation they had with the mossos d'esquadra who were guarding them in the trial held at the Barcelona Court in 2013.. One of the 30 defendants was expelled by the judge after complaining about the extensive police deployment organized for that session. The rest of the defendants got up and threatened to leave the room.. It was then that the altercation between detainees and agents took place that ended with struggles, blows and some defendant reduced to the ground by the police.

Trial of the Casuals in which they faced the Mossos d'Esquadra in 2013. JORDI SOTERAS

Mateo, with a sentence of almost 16 years in prison, was one of those convicted in that macro trial, in which several witnesses preferred to retract the statements they had made in the investigation phase for fear of reprisals.

As a result of the last blow dealt by the Mossos, the structure of the group may be diminished (12 members entered provisional prison), as well as its resources. But, until now, neither police pressure nor prison have been enough to put an end to the criminal activity of the Casuals, which have become one of the most dangerous criminal organizations in Catalonia.

That information sheet from 30 years ago, with which they presented themselves as an animation group at the Camp Nou, concluded with a warning that has exceeded their own expectations: “To the parrot with us!”

A more solid, ideological and mature agreement that will turn the Consell into the keep of the party. Vox scores an important goal for the Popular Party with the pact achieved to oust the left in the Valencian Community and makes progress compared to the one signed 16 months ago in Castilla y León, the only regional coalition government for the right to date and which has served as a reference for those of Santiago Abascal when facing these negotiations after 28-M.

The evolution of Vox since that February of last year is undeniable. If the party made its debut in the regional parliaments five years ago, facilitating a change of cycle in favor of the right from outside, now it is an essential piece for governability. And that can be seen in the text agreed with the PP, on which the formation has deployed a good part of its program and even neutralized certain positions of the popular, who remain silent from Genoa and download the assessment of the agreement to Carlos Mazón's team to also avoid the wear and tear of criticism from the PSOE, which considers the understanding between the PP and Vox at the municipal and regional level a democratic involution and that the “embrace” will be national.

Of the fifty points that make up the pact, the most commented this Thursday was to promote “policies that will seek to eradicate domestic violence, especially those suffered by women and children, guaranteeing equality among all victims”. Despite the fact that the PP defends that the powers in social matters will be its own, Vox manages not only to impose its discourse that violence has no gender, but also to prevent the PP from implanting any reference to sexist violence in the statement. This issue was not addressed in the pact between the two parties in Castilla y León, in the same way that a restructuring of the regional public broadcaster was not suggested, as is also the case in this case.

The pact recovers the parental pin and establishes a drastic reduction in spending

In addition, Vox takes advantage of the identity condition of the Valencian Community, more marked than in other regions, to vindicate powerful ideological demands for training, such as the end of subsidies to “entities that promote Catalan countries” and reinforce the customs and signs of identity through legislation that protects them.

The Culture portfolio, which will fall on the bullfighter and lawyer Vicente Barrera -who will also be vice president-, will play a fundamental role for Vox in this specific matter. The party, by the way, corrects the mistake made in Castilla y León of leaving the vice-presidency of Juan García-Gallardo without powers, a decision criticized in that negotiation and sanitized with this movement for the new Valencian government.

In terms of immigration, Vox also manages to capture a good part of its ideology. While in Castilla y León both formations promised to work in favor of an “ordered immigration”, now they commit to dismantle the subsidies of entities that collaborate or protect the practices of the mafias. More than 400 people reached the Valencian coast last year through small boats.

Vox will reflect its ideology in the Consell and promises an anti-squatter office

On the issue of the mafias, the two parties promise “within the exercise of their powers to inform the State Security Forces and Bodies of possible cases of illegal immigration,” as well as the creation of an office for attention to the illegal squatting similar to the apartment already installed in Castilla y León.

Vox scores the same in the educational issue and introduces the debate on the parental pin in the Valencian Community, one of the most controversial measures of the party, by agreeing with the PP that “parents will freely choose and, where appropriate, authorize the content of the extracurricular activities”. In the Castilla y León agreement, made up of 32 points, there was not such an express mention of this mechanism designed by the formation and defended in places like Murcia or Madrid.

In addition, the PP and Vox coincide in defending the countryside and the fight against territorial underfinancing, as well as in reducing taxes -in the path of popular autonomy it will end the inheritance tax and the wealth tax- and fight for the balance between provinces. Also for increasing health investment, especially for the primary. All of them will be powers that the PP of Mazón manages in its entirety, but that Vox, with the agreement in hand, will be able to lean towards its program.

Amendment to the whole. After eight years of left-wing policies in the Valencian Community, the agreement reached yesterday between PP and Vox for what will be their government program points to a radical turn in the direction of the Generalitat. The future Valencian Government will have the popular Carlos Mazón as president, while the bullfighter Vicente Barrera will be the vice president for Vox with the Culture portfolio. Not only that, because Santiago Abascal's party, which had already obtained the Presidency of the Cortes, will manage two other ministries, that of Agriculture and that of Justice and the Interior. And, above all, Vox manages to get the PP to assume its discursive framework.

It is the price that the popular pay to guarantee a “stable and strong” Executive, whose roadmap expressly mentions “domestic violence” but says nothing about the macho violence, despite the fact that the PP conditioned the pact to the fact that the Vox candidate convicted of mistreatment, Carlos Flores, did not enter the Consell. Anti-squatter office, pseudo parental pin or repeal of historical memory laws are some of the many that Vox points to, which also deletes any reference to climate change. If his electoral program was summarized in 12 points -compared to the 2,000 of the PP-, the 12 appear reflected in one way or another in the list of 50 measures that will guide the action of the Consell.

Now, this is on paper, because the reality is that the PP has not relinquished control of the main ministries and the most sensitive areas, which has generated not a few frictions during the negotiations, according to the sources consulted.. For example, equality or gender violence policies will remain in practice under the popular wing, as well as those for the environment and the fight against climate change or those related to families.

The PP, therefore, will assume the direction of all social portfolios, including Health, Social Welfare and Education. In the latter, in addition, there is the competence of language policy, a high-voltage matter taking into account that Vox had never before entered the government of an autonomous community with a co-official language.. In this sense, the document even speaks of the “free choice of the teaching language”, that is, Spanish or Valencian.

And, unlike what is happening now, the Environment will be separated from the Ministry of Agriculture, so that it will not be the responsibility of Vox, which also loses everything related to water policy, whose defense Mazón wants to capitalize on.. But the PP also reserves another key issue, such as the always complex negotiation with officials. Public Function will therefore be separated from Justice.

In addition to keeping all the social portfolios, which account for the bulk of the Generalitat's budget, the PP will also manage the economic ones. Treasury, Infrastructures and Employment will be for the PP. In other words, direct dialogue with social agents, employers and unions is also reserved.. By the way, the regional employers' association CEV reacted yesterday to this first package of measures by applauding the fiscal ones, which contemplate the abolition of inheritance and gift and heritage taxes, as well as the repeal of the tourist tax.

The objective of the PP, as they insist from the Mazón environment, has been to somehow limit Vox's capacity for action. In fact, although Justice remains under the orbit of Vox, Mazón already rushed yesterday to promise on Onda Cero the “recovery of gender violence courts” which, according to the PP, Ximo Puig eliminated with the plan to group judicial parties.

What is completely unknown is what Barrera will do at the head of Culture, which in these years has paradoxically been in the hands of Compromís and has not had any nod to bullfighting. Not only that, because important institutions such as the IVAM or the Palau de les Arts depend on Culture.

Beyond the discursive line, the document that PP and Vox distributed yesterday includes specific promises such as the approval of a law on identity signs. In reality, it is not a requirement of Vox, but it is the PP who wants to recover one of its latest regulations that the left repealed in 2015. Its objective is to finalize the subsidies to entities “that promote the Catalan countries”.

Nor will there be public aid to associations that “protect” “illegal immigration”. But it is public television À Punt, on Vox's target, which directly appears in the spending reduction chapter. You will be prompted for “plurality” and “concord”. From Genoa, silence is kept for the moment.

Amendment to the whole. After eight years of left-wing policies in the Valencian Community, the agreement reached yesterday between PP and Vox for what will be their government program points to a radical turn in the direction of the Generalitat. The future Valencian Government will have the popular Carlos Mazón as president, while the bullfighter Vicente Barrera will be the vice president for Vox with the Culture portfolio. Not only that, because Santiago Abascal's party, which had already obtained the Presidency of the Cortes, will manage two other ministries, that of Agriculture and that of Justice and the Interior. And, above all, Vox manages to get the PP to assume its discursive framework.

It is the price that the popular pay to guarantee a “stable and strong” Executive, whose roadmap expressly mentions “domestic violence” but says nothing about the macho violence, despite the fact that the PP conditioned the pact to the fact that the Vox candidate convicted of mistreatment, Carlos Flores, did not enter the Consell. Anti-squatter office, pseudo parental pin or repeal of historical memory laws are some of the many that Vox points to, which also deletes any reference to climate change. If his electoral program was summarized in 12 points -compared to the 2,000 of the PP-, the 12 appear reflected in one way or another in the list of 50 measures that will guide the action of the Council.

Now, this is on paper, because the reality is that the PP has not relinquished control of the main ministries and the most sensitive areas, which has generated not a few frictions during the negotiations, according to the sources consulted.. For example, equality or gender violence policies will remain in practice under the popular wing, as well as those for the environment and the fight against climate change or those related to families.

The PP, therefore, will assume the direction of all social portfolios, including Health, Social Welfare and Education. In the latter, in addition, there is the competence of language policy, a high-voltage matter taking into account that Vox had never before entered the government of an autonomous community with a co-official language.. In this sense, the document even speaks of the “free choice of the teaching language”, that is, Spanish or Valencian.

And, unlike what is happening now, the Environment will be separated from the Ministry of Agriculture, so that it will not be the responsibility of Vox, which also loses everything related to water policy, whose defense Mazón wants to capitalize on.. But the PP also reserves another key issue, such as the always complex negotiation with officials. Public Function will therefore be separated from Justice.

In addition to keeping all the social portfolios, which account for the bulk of the Generalitat's budget, the PP will also manage the economic ones. Treasury, Infrastructures and Employment will be for the PP. In other words, direct dialogue with social agents, employers and unions is also reserved.. By the way, the regional employers' association CEV reacted yesterday to this first package of measures by applauding the fiscal ones, which contemplate the abolition of inheritance and gift and heritage taxes, as well as the repeal of the tourist tax.

The objective of the PP, as they insist from the Mazón environment, has been to somehow limit Vox's capacity for action. In fact, although Justice remains under the orbit of Vox, Mazón already rushed yesterday to promise on Onda Cero the “recovery of gender violence courts” which, according to the PP, Ximo Puig eliminated with the plan to group judicial parties.

What is completely unknown is what Barrera will do at the head of Culture, which in these years has paradoxically been in the hands of Compromís and has not had any nod to bullfighting. Not only that, because important institutions such as the IVAM or the Palau de les Arts depend on Culture.

Beyond the discursive line, the document that PP and Vox distributed yesterday includes specific promises such as the approval of a law on identity signs. In reality, it is not a requirement of Vox, but it is the PP who wants to recover one of its latest regulations that the left repealed in 2015. Its objective is to finalize the subsidies to entities “that promote the Catalan countries”.

Nor will there be public aid to associations that “protect” “illegal immigration”. But it is public television À Punt, on Vox's target, which directly appears in the spending reduction chapter. You will be prompted for “plurality” and “concord”. From Genoa, silence is kept for the moment.