The Teenage Gangs of Madrid

This article originally appeared on VICE Spain

A few weeks ago, I was in Madrid for work and ended up staying at hotel near Plaza de la Ópera. It’s a pretty decent spot but one thing that really struck me was that every night, around 7PM, a hoard of kids in flashy, knock-off designer clothes would invade the square. Tons of them.

Videos by VICE

I wanted to know what it was all about so I decided to eavesdrop by sitting down beside one of the groups and act as if I was waiting for someone. Some of their conversation was quite nostalgic, while other parts were a bit stressful: Who to beat up next Saturday? Who’d buy them booze? Whether or not their mate Ali still had his counterfeit Nikes. In comparison, my childhood banter was pretty tame.

The more I studied the teenagers, the more curious I grew. Why were they hanging around this particular square? Where did they get the money for such fancy clothes? Were they from the neighbourhood? I approached a girl who had bummed a smoke off me five minutes before to ask. The girl in question – who was probably about 16 years old – was wearing a pair of Jordan sneakers, worn-out shorts, a really tight top and about four kilos of make-up. As I approached her, she took a drag of her cigarette and started screaming about how some girl called Jenny was “such a slut” for having tried to steal her boyfriend.

I asked her what the allure of that particular square was and she explained that they’d started congregating there earlier that summer so they could “pose”. I thanked her for the information and headed towards the hotel thinking about who I was going to talk to. I had to find out what “posing” was.

I returned to the square the next day with my camera under my arm. To my suprise, it was completely rammed with teenagers. I sat myself on a bench and started trying to map out the different groups and figure out who was talking to who. Sure, they were segregated, but there actually seemed to be a guy connecting them all. A boss of sorts. I walked right up to him and started asking questions. It wasn’t that hard to win his trust, either – all I had to do was pretend I knew anything about sneakers.

He began explaining that the square was a regular meeting point for almost a hundred teenagers. As he was telling me this, people would constantly interrupt us to shake his hand. It was like a stereotypical mob movie scene, except the heroes were kids with questionable attitudes. According to him, most of the young people didn’t even live in the centre of Madrid: they came from suburbs like Orcasitas, Villaverde, Entrevías and San Blas.

He told me his name was Ateniko and he was 16 years old. It was hard not to be mesmerised by his look – piercings all over his face, ridiculously skinny jeans, a rake of tattoos, the most modern haircut I’ve ever seen and top-to-toe knock-off garb. Apparently, the police never leave them alone, either. Which very well may have something to do with the fact that the kids in the square – even though they aren’t from the city themselves – don’t like outsiders and end up getting into a lot fights. There was even a fight scheduled for the same day, Ateniko he wasn’t sure if the others would show up.

I asked why they gathered in such a crowded area. He answered in a split second – “posing”. They used the square to both show off their dance moves and to show off in general. It’s all about showing off. Oh, and stealing McDonald’s Wi-Fi.

Ateniko was feeling his role as a leader, especially when some of his curious minions came by to find out why I was poking around. I took advantage of my newfound audience and began bombarding him with more questions. Even the cigarette girl came over for a listen. I suddenly found myself surrounded by teenagers who wanted to tell me their stories.

They all agreed on their love of trap and hip-hop. They also love Los Pobres (PXXR GVNG), and that’s why they all look the same and share the same outlook on life. They all agreed on one thing: they want to get rich without having to actually work.

“Just like all those celebrities on TV,” one person insisted. Ateniko wanted to become a music producer, but he wanted to teach himself.

These kids seemed to pride themselves on “the law of the street”. They talked openly about posing, weed, knives, and their mates who landed themselves in jail. When I was their age, I was totally dedicated to having my favourite football team’s sports equipment and that was about it. Looking around the square, it was all designer brands: Gucci caps, Diesel pants, Chanel t-shirts, Louis Vuitton backpacks, Nike sneakers. It was all fake, of course, but still.

As soon as my camera came out, they all started preening themselves up. It is all about posing at the end of the day. At the end of the day we’re probably all posers but at least these kids are honest. All they cared about was being decked out in expensive brands, making sure everyone sees them and that they attract attention. If they need to get that attention by being a thug – perfect.

Sadly, just as I was packing my camera away, two police vans rolled in and everybody scattered. I had a ton of questions left for the posers but I guess I’d have to save them for another day.

Scroll down for more pictures