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Washington Post
an hour ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Police detain 8 people after anti-migrant clashes in Spanish town
MADRID — Eight people have been detained by police in Spain in relation to violent clashes that erupted between far-right groups, local residents and migrants in a southeastern town over the weekend, officials said on Monday. Clashes in Torre-Pacheco in the Murcia region took place on Saturday night after an elderly resident was beaten up earlier in the week by unknown assailants, which led to a call by far-right groups to seek retribution on the area's large migrant community. The motivation for the initial attack was not clear. Local media reported that five people had been hurt in the clashes. Among those detained were two people allegedly linked to the attack on the elderly man and several others in relation to the weekend clashes, Mariola Guevara, the central government's representative in Murcia, said Monday on X. Six Spaniards and one North African resident were detained for the assaults, damages and disturbances, Guevara said. The two others detained had helped the perpetrator of the attack on the elderly man, she said. A major police presence was moved into Torre-Pacheco, which has a population of roughly 42,000. About a third of its residents are of foreign origin, according to local government figures. Large numbers of migrants also work in the surrounding area as day laborers in agriculture, a major driver of the regional economy.
Times
3 hours ago
- Times
Anti-migrant rioters attack homes of ‘foreigners' in Spanish town
Nine people have been arrested after three days of anti-immigrant clashes in a town in southeastern Spain following an attack on a pensioner. Police reinforcements have been deployed to Torre-Pacheco, in the Murcia region, where five people have been injured and nine detained in the disturbances, officials said on Monday. Far-right groups and residents have fought against youths of north African origin several times since a 68-year-old Spaniard was attacked on Wednesday. Public anger mounted after a photograph of his badly bruised face and a video purporting to show the attack were posted online. The man, Domingo Tomás, told Spanish media that the incident occurred as he took his usual early morning walk at 5.30am. He came across two young people of Maghrebi origin, he said, when a third ran at him and hit him with a stick, knocking him down before beating him again. 'I didn't understand what they were saying as it was in another language. I didn't say anything to provoke them,' he told El Español news website. 'I had my watch and house keys with me, and that young man didn't even take the watch — he just hit me to hurt me. He hit me for fun. 'In town, they say the young kids are doing a dare, hitting someone to see who hits harder, and I think that's why they did it — to film everything.' Two of the three suspects have been arrested, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, the interior minister, said on Monday. Police were still looking for the main perpetrator. Six others — five Spaniards and one north African resident — were arrested for assault, public disorder, hate crimes or damage to property, the interior ministry said on Monday morning. Later in the day, a ninth person was detained in connection with an attack on a kebab shop. The local mayor, Pedro Ángel Roca, called on the 'migrant community not to leave their homes and not to confront rioters', telling the national broadcaster, TVE: 'Confrontation achieves nothing and ultimately makes us all afraid.' Tomás said that the video purporting to show the attack was not of him, prompting media to report that it had been circulated by far-right groups hoping to whip up anger. One group, named 'Deport Them Now', posted a message on social media calling for attacks against people of north African origin. • Police should disclose ethnicity of suspects, says Met chief On Friday, the city council had called a peaceful demonstration to condemn the attack, but tensions were already running high. A handful of youths of Maghrebi origin arrived, as did members of far-right groups who attacked them despite the presence of police officers. Videos posted on social media showed men dressed in clothes bearing far-right symbols and migrants carrying Moroccan flags hurling objects at each other in Saturday night's violence, which came after lower intensity unrest. Several dozen youths from far-right groups, some hooded, hurled glass bottles and objects at riot police in Torre-Pacheco on Sunday night. Police fired rubber bullets to quell the unrest. Groups of violent individuals, many of them from outside the municipality, roamed the town's streets armed with sticks and went to homes where they knew foreigners lived, according to the local newspaper La Opinión de Murcia. Police intercepted more than 20 vehicles attempting to enter the town, with some occupants carrying sticks and batons, Grande-Marlaska said. The Murcian town has 40,000 inhabitants, 30 per cent of whom are of Maghrebi origin. The area surrounding the town also hosts large numbers of migrants who work as day labourers in agriculture, one of the pillars of the regional economy. Politicians have appealed for calm. Grande-Marlaska blamed far-right groups and the populist right-wing Vox party. 'It's a consequence of the far-right's rhetoric, endorsed by the right, which doesn't question it. It's Vox's fault and its rhetoric,' he said. He criticised the political party's association of illegal immigration with crime when interior ministry data 'doesn't support it'. The Vox leader, Santiago Abascal, denied any responsibility for the incidents and said the government's migration policies were to blame. Abdelali, a north African resident who declined to give his surname, said he was now afraid of being attacked on the streets. He said: 'We want peace. That's what we want, we don't want anything else. I ride my scooter and I'm afraid of being hit by a bottle.' In 2000, violent anti-immigration protests broke out in the town of El Ejido in southern Spain after three Spanish citizens were killed by Moroccan migrants.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Eight arrested after far-right groups and migrants clash in Spanish town
By Leonardo Benassatto TORRE PACHECO, Spain (Reuters) -Spanish police have arrested eight people after three nights of clashes between far-right groups and North African migrants in a town in southeastern Spain, the government said on Monday. In one of Spain's worst such flare-ups of recent times, several dozen youths from far-right groups, some hooded, hurled glass bottles and objects at riot police in Torre Pacheco on Sunday night. Police fired rubber bullets to quell the unrest. The trouble stemmed from an attack last week by unidentified assailants on an elderly man that left him injured and recovering at home. Authorities said two of those arrested were involved in that assault though they were still looking for the main perpetrator. The other six - five Spaniards and one person of North African origin - were arrested for assault, public disorder, hate crimes or damage to property, the Interior Ministry said. Migrants, many of them second-generation, make up about a third of Torre Pacheco's population of about 40,000. The area around the town also hosts large numbers of migrants who work as day labourers in agriculture, one of the pillars of the economy in the Murcia region. Speaking to radio station Cadena Ser, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska attributed the violence to anti-immigration rhetoric from far-right groups and political parties such as Vox, citing organisation and calls on social media. Police intercepted more than 20 vehicles attempting to enter the town, with some occupants carrying sticks and extendable batons, he said. "There are gatherings to resolve the issue (assault) for us. We don't want those," mayor Pedro Angel Roca told national broadcaster TVE. Abdelali, a North African migrant who lives in Torre Pacheco and declined to give his surname, said he was afraid of riding his scooter for fear of being hit by bottles hurled by the rioters. "We want peace. That's what we want, we don't want anything else," he told Reuters on Sunday on a street in Torre Pacheco. In 2000, violent anti-immigration protests broke out in the Almeria town of El Ejido in southern Spain after three Spanish citizens were killed by Moroccan migrants.
Al Arabiya
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Police detain 8 people after anti-migrant clashes in Spanish town
Eight people have been detained by police in Spain in relation to violent clashes that erupted between far-right groups, local residents, and migrants in a southeastern town over the weekend, officials said on Monday. Clashes in Torre-Pacheco in the Murcia region took place on Saturday night after an elderly resident was beaten up earlier in the week by unknown assailants, which led to a call by far-right groups to seek retribution on the area's large migrant community. The motivation for the initial attack was not clear. Among those detained were two people allegedly linked to the attack on the elderly man and several others in relation to the weekend clashes, Mariola Guevara, the central government's representative in Murcia, said Monday on X. Six Spaniards and one North African resident were detained for the assaults, damages, and disturbances, Guevara said. The two others detained had helped the perpetrator of the attack on the elderly man, she said. A major police presence was moved into Torre-Pacheco, which has a population of roughly 42,000. About a third of its residents are of foreign origin, according to local government figures. Large numbers of migrants also work in the surrounding area as day laborers in agriculture, a major driver of the regional economy.
Arab News
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Police detain 8 people after anti-migrant clashes in Spanish town
MADRID: Eight people have been detained by police in Spain in relation to violent clashes that erupted between far-right groups, local residents and migrants in a southeastern town over the weekend, officials said on Monday. Clashes in Torre-Pacheco in the Murcia region took place on Saturday night after an elderly resident was beaten up earlier in the week by unknown assailants, which led to a call by far-right groups to seek retribution on the area's large migrant community. The motivation for the initial attack was not clear. Among those detained were two people allegedly linked to the attack on the elderly man and several others in relation to the weekend clashes, Mariola Guevara, the central government's representative in Murcia, said Monday on X. Six Spaniards and one North African resident were detained for the assaults, damages and disturbances, Guevara said. The two others detained had helped the perpetrator of the attack on the elderly man, she said. A major police presence was moved into Torre-Pacheco, which has a population of roughly 42,000. About a third of its residents are of foreign origin, according to local government figures. Large numbers of migrants also work in the surrounding area as day laborers in agriculture, a major driver of the regional economy.
