The Ministry of the Interior has reported a total of 653 incidents linked to the general strike of this 11 November, a day that has ended with more than 40 people detained across the national territory. Of these, 28 have been arrested in operations by the National Police and the Civil Guard, in accordance with the tally carried out up to 2:00 p.m.
According to Interior's report, the arrests carried out by both units amount to 28: eleven in Andalusia --four in Málaga, four in Almería and three in Granada-- and nine in the Community of Madrid. In the Valencian Community there have been three arrests --one in Alicante, another in Valencia and another in Castellón--, in addition to two in Zamora and one in each of the provinces of Navarra, Valladolid and La Rioja.
The data compiled by the Ministry of the Interior between 10:00 p.m. on Tuesday and 2:00 p.m. on the 11N do not include the arrests carried out in Catalonia and the Basque Country, which are the responsibility of their respective regional bodies. The Mossos d'Esquadra have reported one detainee in Barcelona for the burning of dumpsters the night before the strike, while the Ertzaintza has published a report with 13 detainees, as well as three people under investigation and more than 150 people identified.
Incidents, criticisms and accusations of "police violence"
The strike, called in defense of the right to housing, the improvement of wages and the protection of public services, has been marked by various incidents and by complaints of "police violence". The unions have denounced the use of pepper spray by officers at Mercamadrid, as well as actions on the Metro de Granada.
The riot-control personnel of the Police Intervention Unit (UIP) have been deployed in sensitive locations such as Madrid's Gran Vía, where some establishments have chosen to close for fear of disturbances. In this area of the capital, the protest has ended with two detainees for assaulting an agent of authority, according to police sources.
In other places, arrests have been carried out due to the burning of containers and the carrying out of graffiti, as in Málaga, where four arrests have been recorded, or for an alleged offense of assaulting an agent of authority, with one detainee in La Rioja. Various left-wing groups have joined the criticism by denouncing the "unacceptable police repression", assuring that there were strikers who have been "assaulted, fined and detained in an unjustified manner".
The State Secretariat for Security of the Ministry of the Interior issued an instruction addressed to the general directorates of the National Police and the Civil Guard so that they would organize the necessary arrangements that would allow the development of the protests within the framework of the general strike, but avoiding barricades or "pickets that use violence". The priority set by Interior is to safeguard security in critical infrastructure, as well as in industrial estates, central supply markets, and small businesses.