"We call for a hunt." "Neighborhood patrols." "Direct justice to reunite them with Allah." "And if the other Maghrebis in the town do not cooperate to identify them, they will automatically become guilty and will pay for what happened." The population of Torre Pacheco (Murcia, 41,600 inhabitants) is currently living on high alert after various incidents of attacks on Maghrebis and in response to calls from various xenophobic and far-right groups, such as Deport Them Now, authors of the lines that begin this information, to"hunt immigrants."
On Saturday night, there were incidents and altercations, with bottles thrown, three arrests, and three minor injuries. Some barricades were also set up, forcing the fire brigade to intervene. Along with the Local Police, members of the Civil Guard's Usecic unit, who had been deployed from Murcia, were deployed. This specialized force is responsible for maintaining and restoring security in urban and rural areas.
The president of the Region of Murcia, Fernando López Miras, has spoken about this situation, and has assured that those responsible for the attack on the Torre Pacheco resident that unleashed all this violence"will be held accountable."
"Those responsible for the attacks will be held accountable before the courts and the full force of the law will have to fall upon them, of course. I understand everyone's frustration, but we must trust in the state's security forces and the law, of course," López Miras asserted."Those responsible for the attacks will be held accountable before the courts and the full force of the law will have to fall upon them, of course. I understand everyone's frustration, but we must trust in the state's security forces and the law, of course," he asserted.
For this reason, he has called for calm."The residents of Torre Pacheco want to live in peace and want to coexist as they have until now. And the calls for violence that we are seeing from both sides cannot be allowed or tolerated." The president of Murcia has emphasized that the citizens of Torre Pacheco "are honorable, honest, hard-working men and women who have lived peacefully together in their town for many years. And they do not want this to happen. And they will not allow it either."
The Bishop of Cartagena, José Manuel Lorca Planes, expressed his concern this Sunday in a statement about the recent episodes of violence and called for calm and the restoration of coexistence."Violence never fixes anything nor is it a solution to anything; on the contrary, it creates unrest," he said.
The Desokupa company has also spoken out through its owner, Daniel Esteve, who announced on YouTube that he is coordinating the presence of groups in Torre Pacheco at the beginning of next week to restore order."We are all grown-ups, we have hair on our balls, and whoever wants to come and play will be welcome," he says in the recording, before warning that"we will have to deal with whatever comes." As night fell, clashes broke out, forcing the police operation deployed in the town to intervene to prevent the clashes from escalating. The provisional toll was two injured and one arrested. The Ministry of the Interior sent more Civil Guard units from the Murcia Command.
The president of the People's Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, commented on his X account that he had spoken with both the town's mayor and the president of the Murcia region, López Miras. He also called on the government to"reinforce its forces to immediately stop the spiral of violence."
The Government Delegation has reinforced the presence of the Civil Guard in the area, and demonstrations are taking place in both directions - the Moroccan Workers Association in Spain has tweeted that"violence has no excuse and hate is never a solution" - while social networks are filled with attacks, real and alleged, which contribute to further inflaming the atmosphere in a population that lives off agricultural labor and that has double the presence of immigrants of the Spanish average (about 12,000 people, around 30%, well above the average of 15%).
What's the real issue? we asked the mayor, Pedro Ángel Roca (PP)."Well, look, the truth is that crime and vandalism have increased significantly in the town recently, and we Pacheco residents don't like that, and the truth is that I don't like it either, because I'm also a resident. This is a town that has grown a lot over the last 30 years, and this is the reality. But, of course, this can never justify violence against anyone."
Roca doesn't believe that "blood will reach the river, because luckily the response of the Government Delegation has been very good," and assures that "the only way to ensure security is with resources, and that is exactly what we usually don't have here. There are 56 municipal police officers, but for 190 square kilometers it is only three or four patrols. And the Civil Guard barracks usually has one patrol or none at all. It can't be. That's why we have even asked for a police station, because due to our size we would be worthy of it.
It all began with the attack last Wednesday on Domingo Tomás Martínez, 68, who was walking near his home around five in the morning, as he did every day, according to what he has stated in several media outlets, when he was approached around Avenida del Cementerio by an individual who was fiddling with his mobile phone.
In an assault that lasted no more than a minute, at least two other people joined in, beating the victim. They did not take anything from him, which initially led to the suspicion that it was some kind of viral challenge to record the events and upload them to social media. The Civil Guard has informed EL MUNDO, however, that other hypotheses have not been ruled out.
On Friday, following the publication of the assault suffered by the pensioner, and successive interviews of him on various television channels with his face destroyed and one eye completely bloodied, the town council itself called a protest rally under the banner"Torre Pacheco, free of violence, free of crime", in which the mayor, Pedro Ángel Roca Tornel (PP), said:"We cannot tolerate that our towns have become a place where any criminal can act with impunity", after which he asked the Government Delegation for more security in the town's streets.
After the rally, clashes broke out, encouraged according to eyewitnesses by members of an organization called Frente Obrero, who proceeded to display a banner with the victim's face pixelated and chant xenophobic slogans, pushing some of those present to confront the immigrant population of the place.
Groups of young people shouting discriminatory slogans began to wander around the Plaza Mayor, harassing immigrants they encountered along the way, and attacks took place that the local Municipal Police were unable to control, as can be seen in several videos posted on social media. Thus, the Government Delegation, through its head, Mariola Guevara (PSOE), announced the deployment of officers to the site to ensure security.
"And yes, now there are indeed a lot of officers, in and out of uniform," the mayor explained to EL MUNDO this Saturday."Collaboration with the Government Delegation is being excellent," Roca admits."It's true that the security forces are recording, from what they tell me, that on social media there is organization on both sides, including the Arabs, but we hope that the deployment will prevent further disturbances. Although one thing must be said: there are many videos on social media, etc., but the truth is that, beyond what happened to this neighbor who was lynched, and it is not yet known why, there are no complaints or anyone injured."
