Open combat between native Spaniards and migrant groups broke out over the past two evenings in the Torre-Pacheco municipality following a group of young Moroccan males allegedly beating an elderly man in the area.
Roaming bands of migrants clashed with nationalist anti-mass migration groups in the Murcian municipality of Torre-Pacheco on Friday and Saturday evening, in what has been described as a “spiral of violence” by the local La Verdad newspaper.
According to the paper, various “ultra” right-wing groups organised anti-migration demonstrations on Friday after an attack on an elderly man allegedly at the hands of a group of young Moroccan migrants earlier that day. Tensions broke out after they came in contact with large groups of mostly North African migrants, sparking outright street battles.
There have been claims that the nationalists had organised “hunts” for migrants believed to be involved in the attack; however, there have yet to be any arrests for such activity. Additionally, there have also been claims made on social media of migrants allegedly attacking natives with weapons.
Dozens of police officers were deployed in the municipality to end the conflict, and several officers suffered injuries, including some who were seriously wounded.
Government minister Sira Rego, of the communist United Left party, decried the “racist persecution” of immigrants, saying: “The far right and the right point the finger and their thugs act.”
The president of the residents’ association of Roldán, the largest district in the municipality, Antonio José Martínez, condemned the violence. Still, rather than attributing it to the “far-right”, he blamed a “weariness over the incessant crime rate of the last ten or fifteen years.”
Martínez said that crime in the area has been “increasing and increasing” and that the “unrest is difficult to contain, and that’s why the people rebel.” He warned that if the government fails to address the crime issue in the area, then “worse things” than the recent riots are on the horizon.
The leader of the populist VOX party in Murcia, José Ángel Antelo, recalled that last year, VOX quit the local coalition government with the supposedly centre-right People’s Party (PP) over its agreement with the Socialist Party (PSOE) to distribute illegal immigrants into the region.
“VOX left the government a year ago due to the distribution of illegals. And we proved we were right,” Antelo said. “We will not be complicit in the imported violence promoted and tolerated by PP and PSOE. It’s time to restore peace and security in our neighbourhoods!”
Earlier this week, VOX vowed that if elected nationally, the party would work to deport eight million people from the country, including second-generation migrants “who have not adapted to our customs and who in many cases have also been involved in scenes of insecurity will have to return to their countries.”
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