Latest news with #AnaCantero
The Star
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Star
Violent clashes erupt between far-right groups and migrants in Spanish town
MADRID (Reuters) -Violent clashes erupted between far-right groups, local residents and North African migrants in a town in southeastern Spain late on Saturday following an attack on an elderly man by unknown assailants earlier in the week. Five people were hurt and one was arrested during the unrest in Torre-Pacheco, local officials told Reuters, in one of the worst such episodes in the country in recent decades. The town was quieter on Sunday, but government sources said more arrests were expected. Videos posted on social media showed men dressed in clothes bearing far-right symbols and migrants carrying Moroccan flags hurling objects at each other in Saturday night's violence, which followed several days of lower intensity unrest. Tensions flared up between local residents and migrants after the elderly man was attacked in the street on Wednesday, causing injuries from which he is recovering at home. The reasons behind the assault are unclear and no one has been arrested. The central government's representative in the area, Mariola Guevara, told Spanish public TV the attack was being investigated. She also denounced "hate speech" and "incitement to violence," as far-right groups moved into the town, and said additional Guardia Civil officers would be deployed to deal with the violence. Nearly a third of Torre-Pacheco's population is of foreign origin, according to local government data. The area surrounding the town, which is located in the Murcia region, also hosts large numbers of migrants who work as day labourers in agriculture, one of the pillars of the regional economy. Less than two weeks ago, Murcia's government had to backtrack on a proposal to buy housing to accommodate unaccompanied migrant minors as the ruling conservative People's Party (PP) was threatened by far-right Vox, whose support the PP needs to pass laws. 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. (Reporting by Ana Cantero;Editing by Helen Popper)
Yahoo
15-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Protesters against overtourism take to the streets of southern Europe
(Corrects number of new hotel beds in Venice in paragraph 7 to 1,500 (not 15,000) By Guillermo Martinez, Ana Cantero and Giulio Piovaccari BARCELONA/MADRID (Reuters) -Thousands of people took to the streets of cities in southern Europe on Sunday to demonstrate against overtourism, firing water pistols at shop windows and setting off smoke in Barcelona, where the main protest took place. "Your holidays, my misery," protesters chanted in the streets of Barcelona while holding up banners emblazoned with slogans such as "mass tourism kills the city" and "their greed brings us ruin". Under the umbrella of the SET alliance - Sud d'Europa contra la Turistització, or Catalan for "Southern Europe against Overtourism" - protesters joined forces with groups in Portugal and Italy, arguing that uncontrolled tourism was sending housing prices soaring and forcing people out of their neighbourhoods. Barcelona, a city of 1.6 million, drew 26 million tourists last year. Authorities in the north eastern Spanish city said around 600 people joined the demonstration there, some firing water pistols or setting off coloured smoke and putting stickers saying 'Neighbourhood self-defence, tourist go home' on shop windows and hotels. Outside one hotel, an agitated worker confronted the protesters saying he was "only working" and was not the venue's owner. There were similar demonstrations in other parts of Spain including Ibiza, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, San Sebastian and Granada. Protests in Italy took place in cities including Genoa, Naples, Palermo, Milan and Venice, where locals oppose the construction of two hotels that will add around 1,500 new beds to the city, the organisers told Reuters. In Barcelona, the city government said last year it would bar apartment rentals to tourists by 2028 to make the city more liveable for residents. "I'm very tired of being a nuisance in my own city. The solution is to propose a radical decrease in the number of tourists in Barcelona and bet on another economic model that brings prosperity to the city," Eva Vilaseca, 38, told Reuters at Sunday's demonstration in Barcelona, dismissing the common counterargument that tourism brings jobs and prosperity. International travel spending in Europe is expected to rise by 11% to $838 billion this year, with Spain and France among the countries set to receive record numbers of tourists. A protest in Lisbon was scheduled for later on Sunday afternoon.
