Violence Erupts at Vox Rally
Spanish police had their hands full in Granada on Friday. A far-right Vox party rally turned chaotic when around 40 left-wing activists stormed Plaza de las Pasiegas, intent on shutting down the event. Shoves and scuffles broke out, forcing officers to scramble and create a barrier between the hostile groups. The rally was pushed back by 30 painful minutes as cops wrestled to regain control.
Vox Leader Takes on Protesters
Vox chief Santiago Abascal didn’t just sit tight. He blasted officials for inaction and vowed to confront the protesting mob himself if they didn’t move. “They are preventing us from carrying out this act freely,” he warned, giving authorities minutes to act. True to his word, Abascal marched off the platform flanked by party loyalists towards the counter-demonstrators, while crowds hissed “Out, out!” The tense standoff cooled down without major violence, and the rally finally got underway, though smaller protest groups kept stirring up trouble around the square.
Sánchez’s Immigration Plan Under Fire
The backdrop to the chaos? Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s hotly debated mass regularisation scheme for undocumented migrants. His government recently approved legal status for about 500,000 undocumented people, stirring both huge demand and deep resentment. An estimated 8,000 queued at the Moroccan consulate in Almeria alone to apply, while huge lines snaked through immigration offices across Madrid, Bilbao, and Almeria. Authorities designated just five immigration offices to process applications, spreading the rest to social security, postal services, and NGOs to cope with the flood. Immigration staff are threatening strikes, claiming the system can’t handle the surge. Vox blasted Sánchez for “promoting an invasion” and accused the opposition People’s Party of weak resistance to the government’s controversial amnesty. The left insists the move is vital to support Spain’s ageing workforce, even as Europe tightens borders.
