Police Detain Ten in Andalusia During Spain’s General Strike
Spanish police detained ten people in Granada, Almería and Málaga on Nov. 11, the day of a general strike over housing access and wages.
Spanish security forces detained ten people in the provinces of Granada, Almería and Málaga during the general strike held on Wednesday, Nov. 11, La Vanguardia reported. Unions called the walkout over access to housing and better wages.
According to Interior Ministry sources cited by Europa Press (a Spanish news agency), the first hours of the strike produced four arrests in Málaga. Further detentions were reported in Granada and Almería.
Where the arrests happened
In Málaga, the four people were detained for setting containers on fire and painting graffiti, the Interior Ministry sources told Europa Press.
In Granada, two members of a picket (a group of strikers gathered at a workplace entrance) were detained on Wednesday morning around the accesses to the Alhambra. They are accused of trying to stop employees of the monument complex from reaching their posts. The Alhambra opened its doors late, after the pickets broke up.
In Almería, the Policía Nacional (Spain’s national police) detained four people in the early hours of Wednesday. The group is accused of damaging real estate agencies on Avenida Cabo de Gata, in the coastal El Zapillo area, by spray-painting graffiti and disabling door locks with glue.
What the Interior Ministry told the police to do
The Secretaría de Estado de Seguridad (State Secretariat for Security) of the Ministerio del Interior (Interior Ministry) issued an instruction to the leadership of the Policía Nacional and the Guardia Civil (the Civil Guard). It asked them to plan deployments that allow protests during the general strike while preventing barricades and “pickets that use violence.”
The ministry’s order is to guarantee security at critical infrastructure, industrial estates, central wholesale markets and small shops.
What this means for readers
The strike was called across Spain, and the ten detentions reported so far come from three Andalusian provinces. The policing line set by the Interior Ministry allows protests and rules out barricades and violent pickets.
The reported incidents involve fires, graffiti and glued locks, plus a picket at the Alhambra. The late opening of the Alhambra is the one disruption to a visitor attraction reported so far.
The strike was called over access to housing and wages, and La Vanguardia was covering the day live on Nov. 11.
Source: La Vanguardia
