The general strike promoted by the unions in defense of the right to housing, the increase in wages, and the protection of public services has resulted, by mid-morning, in 40 people detained—13 of them by the Ertzaintza in the Basque Country—and a total of 476 incidents, according to the tally carried out by Europa Press based on data from the Ministry of the Interior and the regional police forces.
The Interior Ministry has detailed that the National Police and the Civil Guard have counted 476 incidents linked to the general strike day from 22:00 on Tuesday to 11:00 on 11N, a period in which both units carried out 26 arrests.
These figures from the Ministry of the Interior do not include the detentions recorded in Catalonia nor in the Basque Country. The Mossos d'Esquadra have reported one detainee in Barcelona for the burning of rubbish bins the night before the strike, while the Ertzaintza has reported 13 arrests up to 10:00.
In the case of the National Police and the Civil Guard, the 26 detainees are distributed as follows: eight in Madrid and eleven in Andalusia—four in Málaga, four in Almería, and three in Granada—; in addition, there have been two detentions in Zamora and one in Navarra, Valladolid, La Rioja, Alicante, and Valencia.
Incidents, charges, and complaints about police violence
The detentions are linked to the burning of rubbish bins and the carrying out of graffiti, as has happened in Málaga with four arrested, as well as to an alleged offense of assault against an agent of the authority, with one detainee in La Rioja.
The strike day was marked by various incidents and protests over “police violence,” among them the one reported by the unions in Mercamadrid, where the officers used pepper spray, or in the Metro of Granada.
Personnel from the Police Intervention Unit (UIP) have been deployed in sensitive locations such as Madrid’s Gran Vía, where some businesses have opted to pull down the roller shutter at certain moments of the morning out of fear of possible disturbances.
IU has denounced “unacceptable police repression” in the first hours of the general strike, emphasizing that there are strikers who have been “assaulted, fined, and detained without justification.”
Interior deployment to contain violent pickets
The State Secretariat for Security of the Ministry of the Interior issued an instruction for the General Directorates of the National Police and the Civil Guard to design the necessary operations that allow the development of protests within the framework of the general strike, but avoiding barricades or "picketing that uses violence".
The Interior directive sets as its objective ensuring the protection of critical infrastructure, as well as industrial estates, central supply markets, and small businesses, in order to prevent blockades and guarantee security during the day of mobilization.