Has fentanyl arrived in Catalonia?

The exponential increase in fentanyl overdose deaths put the United States on alert a few years ago. This opioid is not only one hundred times stronger than heroin and fifty times stronger than morphine. It is also a symptom of the degradation of a state and has devastating effects on the social environment.

Several posts on X have raised alarms about the possible arrival of fentanyl in Catalonia. It would be evidence of the degradation process that Catalonia is undergoing. It is also a warning of its consequences, especially in degraded neighborhoods.

Certain sectors and their media mouthpieces have denied the arrival of this drug in Catalonia both actively and passively. They attribute it once again to hoaxes on social media and obsessions of the far-right. In reality, the problem is much more serious and has to do with the increase in drug trafficking and consumption in recent years.

concern about the increase in fentanyl

Last week, a video shared on social media showed a man with symptoms of having consumed fentanyl. Another post shows a fentanyl container in the public street in the Gòtic, in Barcelona.

In light of this, concern is growing about the arrival of this drug in Catalonia.

Fentanyl has been in the black market in Spain for some time, and the question now is whether it is already wreaking havoc in the most impoverished neighborhoods. Authorities have detected an increase in the adulteration of drugs like cocaine and ecstasy with fentanyl. In Lleida, a series of deaths of drug addicts due to alleged drug adulteration with fentanyl was investigated.

Fentanyl has an anesthetic effect, is relatively easy to obtain, and is consumed in especially degraded environments. It is also highly concerning because it mainly affects very young people. The images of areas in the United States filled with young "zombies" victims of this drug became sadly famous.

youth in marginalized neighborhoods

This drug could easily spread in areas where drug trafficking and consumption have become widespread and normalized. El Raval, the Gòtic, and some neighborhoods in Lleida are a good example, although not the only ones. 

Another matter is the effects it could cause, and here it is necessary to clearly differentiate from what happens in the United States. There, there is no public health system dedicated to the prevention and control of drug addiction. In Spain, there is a developed system that allows for easier control of epidemics like fentanyl.

This doesn't exempt from the risk of it settling in areas increasingly out of the control of authorities. The case of Ciutat Vella, in Barcelona, is an example. In recent years, a concerning increase in syringes in the public street has been detected, sometimes even in front of schools and institutes.   

All this increases the concern of citizens, as fentanyl is often associated with insecurity and degradation. Also with the ruin of youth, which is a clear symptom of social decay and failure.

This leads us to the problem of the degradation of Catalonia, which has become a gateway for drugs and a battleground for mafias. Trafficking is directly related to the increase in crime and insecurity in the streets. Fentanyl is just another face of this reality, after years of leniency in Catalonia.