After four nights of riots and clashes with migrants from African countries, Spain will step up its investigation into possible crimes committed by far-right and racist groups, Reuters reported.
The unrest in Spain is among the worst to hit the country in recent years. Authorities have detained 11 people and received more than 60 reports of hate crimes and disorder. The riots in Torre Pacheco, where a third of the population are migrants, broke out on the 11th of July after an attack on a man in his twenties. Police have arrested three Moroccans for the attack.
Spain’s Interior Ministry said intelligence specialists from the country’s anti-terrorism and organised crime agencies have been asked to include hate crimes in their focus and monitor the online environment for calls for violence. There will also be an investigation into the links between far-right groups and nationalist movements. The government has said that Spain’s third-largest party, the right-wing Vox, has incited violence. The interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, meeting with law enforcement officials, said that hatred cannot be allowed to take root in society. In response to the right-wing groups’ frequent link to crime, the minister said that crime rates have not increased and are not linked to migration.
Vox has denied responsibility for the unrest, blaming instead the socialist government’s migration policies.
Grande-Marlaska said that while the number of foreigners has increased by 54% between 2011 and 2024, crime rates have fallen by 7%.
The minister condemned the attack in Torre Pacheco that sparked the riots and said police had acted swiftly to arrest the attackers, including one who was trying to flee to France. However, calls to “protect Spaniards” and “hunt North Africans” were circulating on social media. The minister said that in recent years, unacceptable attitudes have become particularly pronounced, facilitated by the anonymity provided by social media and encouraged by irresponsible politicians.
While other European countries are closing their borders, Spain remains open to migration. However, Vox has sparked heated debate at a time when plans are underway to relocate unaccompanied minor migrants from the Canary Islands to other parts of Spain.
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