The Civil Guard arrested on Monday in Mataró director of the supremacist and xenophobic group Deport Them Now for his alleged role as instigator of the riots and racist "hunts" that have taken place in recent days in the Murcia town of Torre Pacheco. According to sources from the Ministry of the Interior who spoke to Efe, the arrested man is a 28-year-old man who lived in Barcelona and who last January obtained authorization to work as a private bodyguard.

The town of Torre Pacheco, about fifteen kilometers from Cartagena in Murcia, has been making headlines for four days due to riots carried out by far-right extremists from across Spain. On Wednesday, a 68-year-old man was beaten in the street early in the morning, sparking a wave of violence by far-right groups who have traveled to Torre Pacheco with the aim, they say, of "avenging" the attack. They claim it was carried out by three young men, at least one of North African origin, and have targeted immigrants. However, the police have not yet revealed the suspect's nationality. All of this has led to two consecutive nights of racist harassment and street clashes. Below, we explain the key factors behind this escalation of violence.

The Les Termes neighborhood of Sabadell experienced its second consecutive night of tension on Thursday due to a clash between residents opposed to the occupation of a business by two men and the police. Initially, a demonstration had been called to express their opposition to a situation that several residents described as conflictive, but the protest soon took a turn: although none of the occupants remained in the building, altercations broke out, a stabbing occurred, and a minor was arrested as the alleged attacker, in addition to several injuries. Fires were also set and there were direct clashes with Mossos d'Esquadra officers.

A second consecutive night of violence in the town of Ballymena, 45 kilometers north of Belfast (Northern Ireland), has seen what police have described as "racist riots." These riots have partially spread, though not as seriously, to some areas in the north of the provincial capital and the towns of Newtownabbey and Cartown. Protesters threw Molotov cocktails, bricks, and rockets at police, who responded with rubber bullets, water cannons, and riot dogs. While eleven police officers were injured on Monday night, this time there were seventeen.

France celebrated tonight PSG's victory in the Champions League finalHowever, a celebration that has turned tragic, with major clashes across the country and at least two fatalities, as confirmed by the Ministry of the Interior. Specifically, during these celebrations, a 17-year-old boy was stabbed to death in Dacs, in southwestern France. At this time, the police have not specified the context of the attack. In Paris, a man died while riding a motorcycle and was struck by a car.

A mass brawl in Lleida tonight led to clashes and confrontations with the Mossos d'Esquadra, with six officers injured, according to reports. The Case and Catalan police sources confirm to ARA. The incident occurred in the Mariola neighborhood, west of the city's historic center, and is currently under investigation. At the moment, there are no arrests, according to the same sources.

The eviction of an imam and his family has inflamed the migrant community of Salt, which has long denounced housing racism and difficulties in accessing housing. The protests began Monday night spontaneously, without any prior communication or any organizing entity, and continued Tuesday night, in a second day of altercations and clashes that ended with at least six arrests.

After two weeks of mobilizations and riots due to the imprisonment of the rapper Pablo Hasél, the vice-president, Pere Aragonès, has appeared this Wednesday before the Permanent Deputation of the Parliament to express the positioning of the Government. "We condemn all the violence and express support for the Mossos d'Esquadra and local police", said the -also- acting president.

The Barcelona police court has ordered provisional detention without bail for eight of those arrested in Saturday's riots in Barcelona. They are part of the group that is linked to the anarchist movement and the riots in the Catalan capital that left the image of a van of the Guardia Urbana burning, according to the General Commissariat of Information of the Mossos d'Esquadra, dedicated to the fight against terrorism. They are being investigated for the crimes of belonging to a criminal group, attempted murder - due to burning the van whilst a police agent was inside of it -, attack on law enforcement officers, demonstration or unlawful assembly, public disorder and damage. The detainees appeared Tuesday before the court of instruction number 17 of Barcelona and only answered the questions of their defense.

That the riots following the demonstrations and protests of these days - whose trigger was the imprisonment of Pablo Hasél but which include a wide range of demands - were taking a worrying turn was already perceived with the assault on the police station in Vic, on the 16th of February. But seeds of higher levels of aggressiveness were already visible. Ten days earlier an incendiary device had been thrown at the Matadepera local police headquarters and the Vic train station was seriously vandalised. And still on October 31st a demonstration in Barcelona against the anti-covid restrictions - linked by the Mossos to extreme right-wing groups - ended with 14 people arrested, 23 policemen injured and several lootings.

Surrounded by big brands like Pull&Bear, Zara, Vodafone or Orange, there are still family businesses that survive in Gran de Gràcia street. One of them is the almost century-old shop Vall, which sells bags, suitcases, and accessories. It was founded in 1923 by Esther Vall's great-grandparents, in premises at number 165, which started out as a basket and furniture shop. Over the years, the business has evolved towards accessories and they have opened a shop in Escorial street and, just two months ago, another one at number 108, on the corner with Ros de Olano. Esther, along with her sister, are the fourth generation of the family that runs this business in the heart of Gràcia. They have been "desperate" for a week: "The first day of the riots they painted the shop with acid and on Saturday they broke our windows. In short: everything is terrible", she explains to the ARA. Although the big headlines of the riots have been taken by the stores of the looted multinationals, Esther's case gives voice to small businesses that have also been affected by the riots of these days against the imprisonment of the rapper Pablo Hasél.

Around forty commanders of the Catalan police, known as the Mossos d'Esquadra, have met this morning in the Egara HQ in the leadership's weekly meeting, which was centred, logically, around the protests of the last three days in Catalonia over the imprisonment of Pablo Hasél. They have shown concern for the violence on the streets and for the fact that the police are a target for demonstrators. That is why all those who have spoken have wanted to express their support for police officers. According to corps sources, the director of the Mossos, Major Josep Lluís Trapero, wanted to make this support explicit to the agents of Vic police station and all those who have found themselves in a situation of danger, apart from asking the commanders to be close in the next few days, which he has defined as "complicated".