The Murcia Prosecutor's Office will investigate whether the regional leader of Vox incited hatred in Torre Pacheco.

BarcelonaThe Superior Prosecutor's Office of the Region of Murcia will open an investigation this Tuesday to study whether there is evidence of a crime in the public statements made by the regional president of Vox, José Ángel Antelo, in relation to the riots in Torre Pacheco. This includes recent media appearances, in which he has linked immigration and crime. "All the violence experienced in Torre Pacheco is the fault of the PP and the PSOE for financing and filling our streets with illegal immigration. With Vox, deportations, security, and peace in our neighborhoods," Antelo told the media last Saturday.

The Prosecutor's Office, as reported in a statement, will extend this investigation to other posts made on various social media platforms. This action stems from complaints received from the PSOE and Podemos, which on Monday decided to ask the courts to act following Antelo's messages and the xenophobic attacks of the last four days. In addition, Ione Belarra's party also announced that it would take the far-right party's leader, Santiago Abascal, to the Prosecutor's Office for inciting hatred against immigrants.

The dissemination of xenophobic messages on social media by extremist groups that travel to Torre Pacheco is also in the Civil Guard's sights. The prosecutor of the hate crimes unit, José Luis Sastre, explained this Tuesday on Cadena SER that the Prosecutor's Office is waiting for the police investigation to conclude before initiating the "necessary criminal proceedings." Although he called for calm because there is much to investigate and it will be a long process, he added that the Prosecutor's Office is clear that events like those in Torre Pacheco affect coexistence and democracy: "It is very clearly a criminal offense," he concluded.

Spanish Government: "Vox dabbles in hate"

The riots in Torre Pacheco have burst into the Spanish political debate with accusations from the Spanish government against Vox and the PP. The spokesperson for Pedro Sánchez's government, Pilar Alegría, accused the far-right party of "flourishing" in hatred and the party led by Alberto Núñez Feijóo of "complicit silence." Alegría warned that "hatred with lies is the most flammable fuel" and called for combating those who spread it. The Spanish government spokesperson has not ruled out the possibility of violence spreading to other territories.

Feijóo, for her part, accused Sánchez of using Torre Pacheco "to cover up concessions to separatism and its corruption" and demanded that he "exercise the authority of the State." The PP leader condemned "all types of violence" and called for "calm."

The detainee is in pretrial detention.

The Donostia-San Sebastián Investigating Court No. 5, acting on duty, has ordered the provisional detention without bail of the young man arrested on Monday in Errenteria (Guipúzcoa), who was subject to an arrest warrant for the assault of a 68-year-old man in Torre Pau. According to sources from the Basque Country High Court of Justice, the detainee, aged 19, is accused of possibly committing a crime of bodily harm. For the time being, according to sources from the investigation, the young man will be transferred to Martutene prison.