THE United Left party (EU) yesterday called for government to tackle recent racial tension in the Palma suburb of Son Gotleu by an integral reform of education, housing and security, and not by marginalising certain groups in favour of others.
The EU statement came in the wake of last week's racial in-fighting in Son Gotleu between gypsy and immigrant - largely Nigerian - groups. The ensuing response from the President of the Son Goteu's residents' association, Gines Quiñonero, called for illegal immigrants setting up drugs and prostitution rackets in flats in the area to be expelled from the country so that local residents could live in peace. The EU said that the only way forward for all people living in Son Gotleu is for the tensions and inadequacies to be addressed at a global level as opposed to in the interests of just some groups. The party claimed that the infrastructure of the suburb is the result of policies that were in force during the period of the Franquist regime which wanted workers and immigrant groups housed outside the centre of the city. It is not sufficient, said EU, to put the problems of Son Gotleu down to confict between two warring factions. It's much more complicated than that, the party said.