César Fernández de Landa, councillor for Citizen Security and Local Police of Vitoria-Gasteiz, has argued that disclosing the origin of delinquents is "an exercise in transparency." In doing so, he distances himself from the position of his superior, socialist mayor Maider Etxebarria, who has refused to release such data.
Fernández de Landa believes that "any transparency exercise on any data, as long as it is well-intentioned and serves to solve a problem, seems good to me." Therefore, he is "absolutely in agreement" with the councillor and the decision made by the Department of the Interior of the Basque Government.
The councillor maintains that this data "can be useful to immigration services, social services, and other areas" to "get an idea of the problem and seek solutions." However, he regrets that "some people misuse it for their partisan politics. And I am absolutely against that."
The councillor stated that "of course, there are immigrants who commit crimes," but also clarified that "there are many immigrants who are wonderful people, wonderful citizens who come to work." He also noted that "there are also native delinquents."
Furthermore, Fernández de Landa has linked the issue of bladed weapons, which has intensified recently, to immigration. "The native, due to cultural reasons, is not accustomed to carrying a bladed weapon, does not carry a knife," he explained, "but other nationalities culturally have that custom."
The Councillor for Citizen Security clarified that "carrying a bladed weapon is not a crime right now" and opined that "it should be illegal." He concluded, "I personally see no reason why one should carry a 12-centimeter knife," while also making it clear that the City Council and the Local Police do not have the authority to change the law in this regard.
