Ultra-hatred dirties the end of protests for Ceuta with journalists attacked and riots in front of Congress

The concentrations held this Wednesday in support of Ceuta gathered tens of thousands of people and proceeded mostly peacefully. The image changed in the center of Madrid when ultra groups took advantage of the mobilizations to display their racist discourse, harass journalists, and seek confrontation with the Police.

In the capital, three calls coincided at a short distance. The Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces had gathered 50,000 people in Cibeles according to the Government Delegation and 150,000 according to the City Council. In front of Congress, hundreds of Ceutians gathered under the slogan 'Ceuta unites us', supported by thousands of attendees. In Callao, several hundred people responded to a call against racism.

The institutional act in Cibeles ended without altercations comparable to those that would later occur next to the Lower House. There, those leading the Ceutians' protest had asked from the beginning that insults and partisan slogans be set aside. Their attempt to maintain the civic character of the call was overwhelmed with the arrival of members of the neo-Nazi organization Núcleo Nacional and other far-right agitators.

Around fifty members of the neo-Nazi group appeared uniformed in dark clothing, some with their faces covered and organization insignia. Also in the area were Daniel Esteve, founder of Desokupa, and the commission agent Víctor de Aldama. Francoist symbols were seen and slogans such as "Christian Spain and not Muslim", "invaders, expulsion" or "Muslim whoever doesn't jump" were heard. The PSOE later denounced the presence of "Nazi salutes" and hooded ultras.

The scene followed a known strategy that consists of entering someone else's protest, occupying the most visible space, and making the press a target. The ultra appropriation even clashed with some of the demonstrators who had come to support Ceuta. The organizers themselves tried to stop the insults against the Government and several attendees rejected those groups speaking on their behalf.

Ceuta society had already stood up weeks earlier to Núcleo Nacional, Alvise Pérez and the ultra agitator Vito Quiles for trying to use the crisis to spread messages of hate.

RTVE, target of the violent

The harassment of journalists began before the riots. A group surrounded professionals from Radio Televisión Española (RTVE) and La Sexta shouting "television, manipulation" and "Spanish press, manipulative". There were shoves, blows and attempts to push away microphones until agents formed a cordon to remove several reporters from the area.

Antonio Gómez de Olea reported live for 'Malas Lenguas', on La 1 of TVE, how the attitude changed as soon as the ultras recognized the public channel's logo. The journalist explained that they were filming near Daniel Esteve when the shoves began and the Police had to intervene. "We were only trying to inform", he summarized after describing a "very violent" episode.

The president of RTVE, José Pablo López, later pointed to Jesús Poveda, from 'Malas Lenguas', the 'Mañaneros 360' team represented by Mikel Etxarri and the Informativos reporter Jesús Navarro among the professionals harassed during the day in Madrid, Ceuta and Barcelona. "These are not isolated cases," he warned. He also denounced that the political and media targeting of the corporation's workers ends up having consequences on the street.

The tension in front of Congress erupted around 9:20 p.m. Hundreds of people heckled the agents with the racist cry "with the Moors, no balls" and a group began to throw bottles, chairs and other objects at the deployment. The riot police responded with charges, tear gas and rubber bullets to clear the Plaza de las Cortes and nearby streets.

Four protesters were arrested, two of them minors, and four police officers were injured. Three suffered minor injuries and a fourth was pending assessment, according to data released by the Government Delegation in Madrid.

The Government delegate, Francisco Martín, expressed his "total condemnation" of the violence, wished a speedy recovery to the injured agents, and thanked the work of police, emergency services, and journalists. He also separated those who legitimately protested from those who sought confrontation. "Violence is never the way and those who daily incite it are also responsible," he stated.

The ultra agitator Vito Quiles sought attention a few meters away, at the anti-racist concentration in Callao. He arrived accompanied by several dozen people with Spanish flags and interrupted the event in which Irene Montero, Ione Belarra, and Serigne Mbayé, from Podemos, participated.

Attendees responded with shouts of "fascists out of our neighborhoods" while the Police prevented contact between both groups. The provocation raised tension, although no physical confrontations were registered there.

Núcleo Nacional seeks attention in Barcelona

The far-right repeated the maneuver in Sant Jaume square. About 1,500 people attended the concentration in support of Ceuta and around 700 participated in the anti-racist rally, located on the other side of a wide cordon of the Mossos d'Esquadra and the Guardia Urbana. Leaders of the Popular Party and the far-right Vox occupied different spaces within the first event.

Among the first, a group from Núcleo Nacional became visible, recognizable by their dark clothing, some covered faces, and the organization's emblems. Its members tried to lead several chants and launched slogans against Muslims. The majority of the concentration did not follow these proclamations, and some adults even reprimanded them, according to chronicles published from Barcelona.

Tension increased when several far-right sympathizers confronted participants in the anti-fascist protest. Officers intervened to move them back behind the cordon and prevent a confrontation. There were also reproaches and insults directed at journalists, incidents included by the president of RTVE in his public complaint about the harassment suffered by his teams.

In Seville, Falange Española de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (JONS) had publicly called on its followers to gather in Plaza Nueva. The main concentration there brought together about 40,000 people and ended without violent episodes comparable to those in Madrid. The vast majority of those who came out to support Ceuta did so peacefully, while an organized minority worked to impose its propaganda and intimidate those who reported it.

The harassment extended to other points. In Pamplona, several attendees surrounded and heckled an RTVE team until journalists from other media came to their aid. In Ceuta, a reporter from the public broadcaster was also singled out. José Pablo López closed his complaint with a phrase that portrays the seriousness of what happened. "Attacking reporters is dynamiting democracy".