An outbreak of violence between migrants and residents in a southeastern Spanish town was fueled by social media posts from , an official from government said Sunday.
Five people suffered minor injuries during Saturday night’s disturbance and one person was arrested.
Mariola Guevara, a central government delegate in the Murcia region, said officials responded after detecting posts that had incited a planned “hunt for migrants,” which had begun earlier than planned.
What do we know?
Groups armed with batons roamed the streets of the sleepy town of Torre Pacheco, near Murcia, late Saturday for a second night, days after an attack on an elderly man by unknown assailants.
Despite a major police presence, regional newspaper La Opinion de Murcia reported that groups were looking for foreign-origin people.
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 the center of the 40,000 population town.
The footage also showed rubbish containers and barricades in flames.
Police officers managed to prevent a confrontation between the two groups, Mayor Pedro Ángel Roca said.
Roca said most of the people taking part in the riots had come from other areas.
Pensioner recovering after beating by youths
The clashes followed several days of lower-intensity unrest in the town following the beating of a pensioner on Wednesday.
The 68-year-old man is recovering at home from his injuries and told local media he was attacked by three youths from North Africa. The attack was filmed and put on social media.
The reasons behind the assault are unclear and no one has been arrested in connection with the incident.
Francisco Pulido, head of the Guardia Civil in the Murcia region, said he had deployed units to disperse the crowd and prevent further violence.
Pulido said authorities were also focused on investigating possible hate crimes.
Threats made toward migrants
Threats directed at Moroccan families living in Torre-Pacheco have been circulating on social media for days, according to the daily El Pais.
Spanish authorities launched an appeal for calm on Sunday, with Fernando Lopez Miras, the head of the Murcia government, writing on X that “Torre Pacheco must get back to normal.”
“I understand the frustration, but nothing justifies violence,” the conservative politician added.
make up about 30% of the population in the town, about twice the average in Spain, according to El Mundo newspaper.
The area around the town also hosts large numbers of migrants who work as farm laborers.
Edited by: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez
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