Learning Lessons from Giuliani

As we approach May 27th, Election Day for city halls and the autonomous communities in Spain, the campaign strategies of the conservative Partido Popular (PP) have me wondering if Madrid can learn some lessons from New York. With the PP having once more nominated its incumbents for reelection, Esperanza Aguirre, for the Community of Madrid, and Alberto Ruiz Gallardón for City Mayor, the two candidates promise continued service to Madrid through beautification of Madrid's landscape, its surrounding communities, and continued economic growth. But amidst the daily spectacles of ribbon cutting, photo ops, and inaugurations, what is lost in the awe of novel urban installations are the social issues facing Madrid: rising housing costs in post-euro Spain, and with it, a redrawing of socioeconomic boundaries that segregate the capital city between those who can afford housing in the center, and those who must move to the suburbs and the city's lower-income neighborhoods. Gentrification in Madrid is not only a matter of class difference, but is increasingly becoming rife with racial tensions. With a significant leap in immigrant population (nearly 30% of the city's population is no longer "Spanish" for a country that, two decades ago, was strikingly homogeneous), Madrid's demographic boundaries are rapidly becoming ghettoized, while Aguirre and Gallardón have turned a blind eye to the problem. Suburban violence against immigrants -like this winter's Alcorcón incident, when gangs of Spanish teenagers armed with kitchen knives rallied to "defend" their neighborhood against the "invasion" of "thieving" immigrants- has received more media attention, but these incidents have only been treated as such -- as "incidents," dispersed by police intervention, and unmet with discussion, either in the community or by government, regarding the matter.

Nevertheless, the years of governance under Aguirre and Gallardón -one might even call it their only consistent "policy"- have provided a spectacular new capital city to live in.
The massive demolition and reconstruction of M-30, Madrid's southern highway, -a project that drew significant protests from residents, the ire of commuters, and a call for investigation into its hastened construction and environmental damage- will undoubtedly make the southern area of the city more attractive, once fully completed. Europe's tallest skyscrapers -not one, but four- have already begun to draw attention to Madrid, reasserting its status as one of the most important banking and commercial capitals in Europe. (The four pharaonic peaks, seen from anywhere in the northern part of the city, serve as a reminder that excessive displays of grandeur tend to incriminate the motives for overcompensation.)

The bid for the Olympics was lost to London in the last round of considerations two years ago, but this has not stopped Gallardón and Aguirre from vying for the next Olympic bid and developing new designs for the Olympic Villa, which now has its own (recently inaugurated) metro stop. Countless new metro stations, and renovations of existing ones, have been inaugurated in time for May 27th, making Madrid seem like a much larger and communicable city than when I first knew it, eight years ago. In the past two months, Aguirre's office has published six press releases for her attendance at different inaugurations for metro lines, continued renovations and new stations, while her campaign ads will remind you of the same. In response to the complaints of Madrid residents regarding Gallardón's incessant construction efforts, the Community of Madrid has run a flashy public service announcement, not coincidentally in time for the campaign: "¿Qué pasaría si nunca pasara nada?" "What would happen if nothing ever happened?" The recent spectacles of inauguration ceremonies and monuments in Madrid have indeed subsumed the political scope of the electoral campaign. Novelty and awe have earned their place in the politics of smoke and mirrors, thereby supplanting any real social issues that face a rapidly changing city.

I'm left to wonder if Giuliani's project to "clean up" New York in the 1990s, with its face lift that made a grungy city more palatable to tourism and investors, might provide some lessons for Madrid. After all, incessant ribbon cutting ceremonies -while their monuments and installations do leave Madrid a more eye-catching city to live in- cannot suffice for the long-term damage incurred by pushing the city's problems out of sight, to its marginal neighborhoods.