Spain

WITH SKINS IN MADRID

Q+A
Posted July 01, 2011 | Comments / 11


Young Spanish people are politisizing themselves again. Whether there is a direct relationship with this or not, the last two years have seen a marked rise in skinheads on both sides of the political spectrum in Madrid and young people returning to the polarised politics of the 70s are expressing their identity through British skin fashion. 

We had some beers and whiskey and cokes with the skinheads in these pictures, who, apart from having an imposing look, regard being a skin as a way of life as opposed to just another trend: "You don't become skin, you are born skin" we heard repeatedly throughout the night.

Facundo, 20, and his friends Eva Maria Iñigo, Mary, Martha, and Borja are part of a gang that hang out in suburban squats and plazas in the city center. They engage in typical teenage activities like drinking, getting high, and fucking, but with the extra incentive of having to watch out for police beatings and fights with neo-Nazis.

Vice What does it mean for you to be skin?
Facundo: most importantly it means being working class. I am poor. My father fixes stereos and my mother cleans houses. I am proud of it. Money means nothing.

Where do you go out?
We usually drink in places like Chueca and Argüelles, and increasingly in squats like La Magdalena, La Cacique, and the Dragon.

What's your problem with the police?
Spain is not London, where you can dress how you like. It is very conservative. When I was in the Basque Country recently I was beaten by the police.

Just because of how you look?
Yes. There's more chance of me being stopped and searched than someone who wasn't a skin. It is also virtually illegal to be SHARP in Spain. Two of my friends are facing years in prison for nothing. They were just drinking in the street at 2am. It's all made up by the police. With elections just around the corner, there are a lot more police on the streets and squats are being evicted. And with the fascists around things are getting tough here in Madrid.

What proportion of skins are fascists do you think?
Among the skin community of Madrid I would say that 70% are anti-fascists and 30% neo-Nazi. Of course, there are some neighbourhoods where I can't go: Pinto, Alcalá de Henares, San Sebastián de los Reyes, and La Moraleja. They are not safe for me. They are suburbs where you find yourself more likely to run into Neo-Nazis. Madrid is a war zone. You have to be alert and careful who you socialise with. There is always someone who might try and stab you or break a bottle over your head.

What music do you listen to?
80s punk mostly. Eskorbuto, Trapera La Banda del Rio, La Polla Records... Everything is much freer now, people listen to punk and hardcore as well as reggae. But I think there are things that you shouldn't mix, like this new genre called Reggae Against Communism, it's totally mad—racist reggae. That's a small scene compared to the Nazi mods, though, they're everywhere. It is contradictory! You have to be into something and be proud of it. I've been to Oi! concerts but it doesn't do it for me. Soul and skinhead's reggae is what I think is really cool.

More pics of the skins here.

 

PHOTOS: SILVIA VARELA
TEXT: PAUL-SIMON GEDDIS

TAGGED: Skins

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