My friend from Alcorcon (south of Madrid) sent me an email about "bandas de Latin Kings" and something taking place in his town. I know who they are but anyone care to clarify what this is about?

The "Latin Kings" are a gang of (mainly) immigrants from the Domincan Republic and Ecuador in Alcorcón outside of Madrid City. They like to rob, steal, and harrass others to literally pay them for respect. They're pretty much your typical street thug gang. Luckily, so far, they've done little to disrupt Madrid City downtown and the police are REALLY on top of them. The Latin Kings also reside in Barcelona and many of the other major cities.

At least in Alcorcón, the residents and youths are soon going to have a kind of demonstration march against the Latin Kings. Last weekend there was a kind of "fight" or "rumble" between the Latin Kings and the youths of Alcorcón, presumably over their "turf". Moreover for me, it seems the people/youths of Alcorcón were defending themselves against the extortion which the gangs were imposing upon them, charging the residents to allow their children to play in the playgrounds, etcetera.

You can conduct a Google search of: "Latin Kings" +madrid

.... to find a good deal of information about them, but mainly in Spanish. And if you read Spanish, there's an article on Madridiario called " Sigue el dispositivo policial especial e... bandas latinas "

Saludos, MadridMan

Hi MM, I was trying to post my answer, I think yours is better, but I kept getting something like "that subject does not exist". We both were probably trying to reply at the same time..Here's my answer anyway:

What I have seen on the news is that the Latin Kings in Alcorcon are now demanding payments from teenagers and children to let them use public areas, like parks. Obviously, the locals do not like this. Last week, an “argument” among teenagers, two from Spain and two from Dominican Republic, ended up in a street brawl of native Spaniards vs. Latin Kings, involving more than 100 people. One innocent bystander was stabbed six times in the back and is now in critical condition. There are six people arrested, all from Latin America. That is all I know.

these gangs have been going on for years; latin kings started in central america then south then los angeles Calif; and the rest of country and now they are in Spain. its ritual organised thugs gangs;very dangerous. I think the kids in Alcorcon did right in rebelling and wake the local authorities.
they(local kids) have identify 8 different gang groups not just the latin kings,and the police is acting like oh i did not know that..; c'on they are overruning the city and they do not know? Madrid has that problem too but so far it has been isolated cases.
unfortunately.

Sorry Pedmar, but the Latin Kings started in Chicago way back in the day! I still remember they would tag our garage door.

Interesting...I think Spain is going through what the US did back in the 1950s, racially speaking. History does repeat itself, how silly after MLK's work.

You can't compare 1950s segregationist America with Spain. No tiene nada que ver. Completely different issues.

Do you think the Latin Kings in Spain belong to or follow this U.S. organization? Maybe they only copied the name, but is basically a Spanish gang/movement whose members come from Latin America. It sounds to me like the latter.

no its an international gangs; they bring up local candidates and you swear in like a fraternity house in university. its well documented.YOu can google latin kings and see more.
of course things get complicated with uncontrolled immigration .