Tensions remain high in Torre Pacheco, a town in the southeastern region of Murcia, following several nights of anti-migrant riots that have so far led to eight arrests. Spain’s home minister has blamed the disturbances on the far-right Vox party.
The unrest follows claims by a 68-year-old local resident, who told Spanish media he had been assaulted last Wednesday by three young men of North African descent. A video of the incident was later circulated on social media.
In an interview on Cadena Ser radio on Monday, Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said that eight people had now been arrested, two of them ‘related’ to the attack on the elderly local resident last week, although he did not specify the nature of this alleged connection.
The minister also said that the violence and ‘hunts’ for immigrants organised by far-right groups could be explained by ‘the rhetoric of Vox’, Spain’s far-right political party and the third largest in the Spanish parliament. ‘It is the fault of Vox and speeches like those of Vox,’ said the minister.
Grande-Marlaska also said that the riots were ‘to a certain extent and unfortunately endorsed by the far right’, alluding to racist narratives that link immigration and crime without any backing from objective data. ALSO READ: Far-right Vox party seeks to clarify its plans to ‘deport 8 million immigrants’.
According to the regional newspaper La Opinión de Murcia, despite a strong police deployment, groups carrying batons were seen patrolling the streets in search of people of foreign descent over the weekend. Videos of violence were also shared on social media.
While the regional government did not provide a precise number of those hurt, it confirmed that at least one arrest had been made over the weekend in connection with the disturbances.
In response to the attack on the elderly resident last Wednesday, the local council had held a demonstration on Friday, which was meant to be peaceful. However, far-right participants reportedly used the event to chant anti-immigrant slogans.
One group calling itself ‘Deport Them Now’ issued a social media post encouraging violence against people of North African background.
With the town of around 36,000 residents on edge, Spanish officials on Sunday had urged restraint and calm.
‘Torre Pacheco must get back to normal,’ wrote Fernando López Miras, president of the Murcia regional government, in a message on X.
‘I understand the frustration but nothing justifies violence,’ he added.
Speaking to RTVE public television, the town’s mayor, Pedro Ángel Roca Torne, also appealed for peace: ‘I call on residents to be calm, for tranquility.’
Meanwhile, Spain’s Youth Minister, Sira Rego — a member of the left-wing Sumar party — denounced the attacks on migrants in a post on Bluesky, attributing the violence to the influence of the ‘ultra-right’.
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🎙️ El ministro de @interiorgob, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, ha sido entrevistado esta mañana por @jl_sastre en @HoyPorHoy.
Marlaska, sobre los episodios de violencia contra los inmigrantes en Murcia: “Es culpa de Vox y de discursos como los de Vox”.https://t.co/OhsNUUZfGS
— SER Comunicación (@SER_Comunica) July 14, 2025
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