Description: The small town of Torre – Pacheco has experienced an outbreak of anti – immigration violence which followed the attack on an elderly Spanish citizen last week. Local population and far – right demonstrators clashed with the Moroccan minority in Torre – Pacheco causing large – scale public disorder through violent clashes. The confrontations began after an elderly Spanish citizen was attacked by several individuals he identified as North Africans with the motives of the attack still remaining unclear. The government deployed the national civil guard to assist local law enforcement in suppressing the violent demonstrations while also accusing the far – right political party, Vox, of inciting escalation of violence through social media platforms towards the city’s immigrant population. Vox has renounced any accusations and shifted blame to the government’s improper migration policies.
Impact: The anti – immigrant violent upsurge in the protests in Spain contributes towards the country’s political destabilization and deterioration of public safety. The protests demonstrate the persistent issues Europe as a continent has with migrants and the growing influence of far – right political elements within the current government. Spain’s government has been recently hit by several scandals which involved members of the ruling party, as Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has been under constant pressure to dissolve the Parliament and call for snap elections. Presently, the violence is isolated in the small town, however, growing anti – immigrant sentiments and the abrupt upsurge in public unrest could spread even further, causing larger scales of destabilization across the country.