The anti-migrant clashes of Torre Pacheco in the south of Spain were ignited by a fake video, denounced the Spanish Minister of Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska.
The spark that ignited unrest in Torre Pacheco -- transforming a calm week in the southern Spanish agricultural town into a hotbed of anti-migrant clashes, among the worst seen in the country in recent years -- was reportedly a video that turned out to be fake.
It was the Spanish Minister of Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who denounced this: The images of the beating of a 68-year-old retired man, shared on social media and that went viral, do not show the aggression that took place last Wednesday (July 9), and that caused people's rage.
The victim himself, specified the Minister, "did not recognize himself in the video".
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Wave of anti-migrant sentiment
This "enormous falsehood," based on a real event and disseminated by far-right groups and supremacist influencers on Telegram, triggered a wave of anti-migrant sentiment against migrants from Maghreb. It led to hundreds of people taking to the streets in Torre Pacheco -- just 30 kilometers from Murcia -- on Saturday and Sunday.
In this area, one-third of the 40,000 inhabitants come from the Maghreb region.
Some of the people who took to the streets were armed with bats and clubs, and hid their faces, seemingly intent on finding those responsible for the aggression of the retired man, and igniting violence.
The scenes echoed similar anti-migrant riots that erupted in the UK a year ago, following the killing of three young girls. This case was similarly exploited on social media by far-right groups, prosecutors noted.
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At least 14 arrests
At least 14 people have been detained by police so far over the clashes that started to flare up on Friday, reported Reuters on July 15.
Among those who were detained, there are also two young men of Moroccan origin, ages 20 and 21, accused of having watched the beating of the retired man without intervening to help him.
The perpetrator of the aggression, identified by the police, has not been apprehended yet.
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Government points fingers at Vox, which rejects the charges
However, tension continues to be extremely high due to the "patrols" announced for 15, 16, 17 July in Torre Pacheco by extremist groups, with invitations for people to show up armed with "knives and rasp bars".
The Government is monitoring events with worry, and reinforcing security: the 90 Civil Guard agents in the field will be supported by 45 anti-riot squads, in addition to intelligence officers.
Minister Grande-Marlaska, while condemning the "racist persecutions", attributed the responsibility for the escalation to the extreme right, and in particular to "Vox and the speeches similar to those of Vox", and accused it of instigating violence with false narrations that "without any reason identify irregular migration with criminality."
On the other side, the leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, rejected the accusations, insisting on the "mass deportations of illegal and legal migrants who commit crimes", following the footsteps of Trump model.
"Racism is not compatible with democracy," warned Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who believes that what is happening in Torre Pacheco calls on everyone to "defend the values that unite us."