Eight arrested after far-right groups and migrants clash in Spanish town
TORRE PACHECO, Spain (Reuters) -Spanish police have arrested eight people after three nights of clashes between far-right groups and North African migrants in a town in southeastern Spain, the government said on Monday.
In one of Spain's worst such flare-ups of recent times, several dozen youths from far-right groups, some hooded, hurled glass bottles and objects at riot police in Torre Pacheco on Sunday night. Police fired rubber bullets to quell the unrest.
The trouble stemmed from an attack last week by unidentified assailants on an elderly man that left him injured and recovering at home.
Authorities said two of those arrested were involved in that assault though they were still looking for the main perpetrator.
The other six - five Spaniards and one person of North African origin - were arrested for assault, public disorder, hate crimes or damage to property, the Interior Ministry said.
Migrants, many of them second-generation, make up about a third of Torre Pacheco's population of about 40,000.
The area around the town also hosts large numbers of migrants who work as day labourers in agriculture, one of the pillars of the economy in the Murcia region.
Speaking to radio station Cadena Ser, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska attributed the violence to anti-immigration rhetoric from far-right groups and political parties such as Vox, citing organisation and calls on social media.
Police intercepted more than 20 vehicles attempting to enter the town, with some occupants carrying sticks and extendable batons, he said.
"There are gatherings to resolve the issue (assault) for us. We don't want those," mayor Pedro Angel Roca told national broadcaster TVE.
Abdelali, a North African migrant who lives in Torre Pacheco and declined to give his surname, said he was afraid of riding his scooter for fear of being hit by bottles hurled by the rioters.
"We want peace. That's what we want, we don't want anything else," he told Reuters on Sunday on a street in Torre Pacheco.
In 2000, violent anti-immigration protests broke out in the Almeria town of El Ejido in southern Spain after three Spanish citizens were killed by Moroccan migrants.
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'They got us for all three, and then made a profit holding us and dragging out this case.' Their story is similar to that of a Burlington resident, David Bennett, who Dominican authorities arrested in Punta Cana over accusations of smuggling drugs. Bennett endured a 71-day ordeal in the Caribbean country until the charges were withdrawn in April. David Bennett arrived at Pearson airport Friday night. Crawford and DiPietro were detained on a Friday evening. Crawford was released on Saturday on a $10,000 cash bond. He was free to return to Canada but wasn't going anywhere without DiPietro, who had a hearing scheduled Monday, where the court would charge her and issue a travel ban. 'The cells were at the end of a corridor, and it was pitch black,' Crawford said. 'The cop used the flashlight on his phone to look through a ring with dozens of keys to find the right one. I couldn't see anybody's faces in the jail cell. I didn't know what I was going into.' On his release, Crawford had contacted family and friends at home. DiPietro's mother found them a lawyer and jetted to the Dominican Republic with her boyfriend. Crawford said when they met the prosecutor, he told them the DNC had 'nothing on them and charges didn't make sense,' but since the investigation had started, there was no way to avoid the process. The court released DiPietro on a $6,000 cash bond after her Dominican lawyer 'fought like hell all day' to get the charges withdrawn. They initially stayed in a hotel room before her mother and boyfriend had to return home. Burlington's David Bennett is finally home months after he was detained in Dominican Republic on Crawford and DiPietro then moved from resort to resort, based on which was offering the lowest rate for the week. They also had concerns at home. Their German shepherd puppy, Ranger, was boarding with its breeder/trainer. 'She was happy to take him — for a week — but was wondering when we were going to pick him up,' DiPietro said. 'We didn't have anybody else who we could leave him with. Our friends and family all work full time, and some don't have the space for a dog either.' Their struggle for freedom cost them dearly, starting with lost wages. They drained their line of credit and maxed out credit cards to pay for lawyer fees, bail, accommodations and utilities back home. They had to board Ranger for three months. DiPietro lived with a gnawing fear that she could lose her nursing license. To add insult to injury, they had to pay an extra $60 daily fee at the airport for having stayed in the country for more than 30 days. 'All we wanted was our first vacation together and enjoy the time together and return home to our normal life,' DiPietro said. 'We can't do that because we're still picking up pieces and dealing with the mental-health struggles and everything else that we've had to do to try to rebuild our life.' They have set up a GoFundMe campaign: 'Wrongfully Detained Abroad: Help us Rebuild.' So far, they have raised more than $20,000 of their $80,000 goal. The GoFundMe page says any donation — no matter how small — will make an incredible difference. And if someone is unable to donate, simply sharing their story will help more than they realize. 'It's going to take us a long time to recover from this,' Crawford said. 'I want to marry her, and it's going to take years before we can even think about it financially.' Crawford went to see her in jail on the day after his release and hugged her like he never wanted to let her go. 'The whole time I was in jail, I was just trying to keep my head down,' DiPietro said. 'You don't want to stand out, but you don't want to appear weak. When he was hugging me, I started crying, and then I completely broke down, and I couldn't stop. I was trying my best just to hold it all together.' There were 10 other women in the jail cell. She was the only foreigner. No one spoke English. One woman was in charge. The lawyer brought her food daily and toilet paper. She told DiPietro to slip the prisoner in charge of the cell $10 a day. 'There were one or two girls who kind of looked after me,' DiPietro said. 'You don't have a toothbrush. You don't have soap. The toilet is out in the open. If they are cleaning, you are expected to join in.' They were in contact with the Canadian Embassy almost daily but said the staff couldn't do much to help as the weeks and months went by, though it felt good to speak to someone in English. 'There was no financial assistance, no shelter, the asylum, no help with food,' DiPietro said. 'We gave them our story, and that was it. We had to survive on our own.' 'We were taking it one week at a time,' Crawford said. 'We were under suspicion. We were led to believe it would be a quick turnaround, but it seemed like everyone in government in the Dominican (was) laid back. Their priority is not paperwork. They go at their own pace.' They provided the authorities with proof they owned their own house, copies of their bills. They supplied character witness letters, their records with WestJet showing they have only checked two bags. They also had video footage showing two suitcases at both airports in Canada and Pearson. 'It was an uphill battle just to find all the documents back home, just to get that notarized, and then apostle to just in court,' DiPietro said. 'Everything also had to be translated to Spanish by an official court translator.' A couple of days after their release, they were watching the news in Spanish when they saw the storyline, 'Canadienses arrestados en el aeropuerto por cargos de drogas.' The newscast paired the voice-over with the video of them in handcuffs at the airport. Crawford said they spent their time glued to their phones. The day would start with texts and emails, as well as contacting the embassy and checking with their lawyer. They would leave the room for a 20-minute lunch, followed by more texting and emailing until their 20-minute supper. 'Then we were back in the room again, and before bed, we would watch Spanish TV and try to unwind a little bit,' Crawford said. 'About the only thing we did was go to the beach on the weekend.' By the third month, they had both started to feel numb. 'We started anticipating that things were going to go wrong,' Crawford said. 'We would get a little piece of hope, and it would always come crashing down. You get to the point where you don't want to be too hopeful.' DiPietro said the good news finally came out of the blue on a June day. 'It was like someone finally decided to do paperwork, and then our lawyer was on it immediately and told us all we needed were some signatures,' DiPietro said. Once everything was confirmed, the last couple of hours were excruciating. The lawyer drove them to the airport. They went through the checkpoints and security, waiting for the other shoe to drop. 'I was just relieved when we're in the air,' DiPietro said. 'We were actually going home.' They sailed through customs in Toronto and were on their way home soon after landing. 'I don't mind talking about it, but it's overwhelming at the same time,' DiPietro said. 'You start thinking about specific details about things that happened, and they are still in your head. Zach Crawford and Cassandra DiPietro are back in St. Catharines after they were detained in the Dominican Republic for almost three months. 'We know we're cleared of everything, but there's always that thought about flying. What if it's in a record somewhere? What if we get questioned about the Dominican? We don't want to go through that again.' So, is there any international travel in their future? 'We're just going to go camping in Ontario from here on out, take Ranger with us and find a nice spot somewhere,' Crawford said. 'That's the safest thing for us.' Crawford said spending months in 'fight-or-flight mode' left them exhausted. They took a month-long break and are decompressing by living a quiet life. Crawford and DiPietro said they are sharing their story not just to ask for help but also to raise awareness because it could happen to anyone, anywhere. 'If there's one thing we've learned, it's how critical it is to know your rights and how important it is to understand the risks and be aware of what little protections exist when you're abroad,' DiPietro said. 'We hope that by sharing our story, others will be better prepared than we were.' Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. 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