The National Police charged after 10 pm to break up the radical protesters who were trying to overturn the fences that protected the perimeter of the PSOE headquarters on Ferraz Street. A group of protesters with radical aesthetics has monopolized the front row of the protest, which the Government delegation has estimated at around 7,000 people, double the number on Monday. After almost an hour of uttering radical chants and after several confrontations with peaceful protesters who reproached them for their attitude, the Police acted after an attempt to break the network of fences, some of which they even threw at the officers.
The agents have begun the charge in the direction of Pintor Rosales promenade against the radicals, who have continued lighting and launching flares and overturning containers and furniture from some businesses in the area. The rest of the protesters, the vast majority of whom were peaceful, quickly dissolved after the charge.
This Tuesday’s rallies against the PSOE and the amnesty in Madrid have been divided into several small groups. One of them has begun to march from the Pintor Rosales promenade towards the Congress of Deputies, while the main one has once again concentrated on Ferraz, although the police perimeter this Tuesday is notably greater than that of the previous days. Today the fence was located about 50 meters further from the party headquarters than the day before, practically at the height of Marqués de Urquijo. Three quarters of an hour before the event began, that first row next to the fence was already filled, reinforced more than 24 hours before. In addition, there was another section of Ferraz Street cut off in the direction of Plaza de España.
The march started from Pintor Rosales and had been called an hour before the official rally in front of Ferraz. And after approaching the intersection of Marqués de Urquijo and Ferraz, they turned around to begin touring the entire center of Madrid, the entire Gran Vía and advancing along the Paseo del Prado towards the Congress of Deputies, where they staged a sit-in. A significant deployment of the National Police was also deployed there, cutting off fences and trucks at the beginning of the San Jerónimo Race.
Meanwhile, the bulk of the demonstration continues to be concentrated in Ferraz, with some tension between some protesters and groups of radical young people who sang chants such as “Marlaska faggot” or “the Constitution destroys the Nation.” There were also whistles when flares were lit and when that group, which tried on several occasions to knock down one of the fences, sang ‘Face to the Sun’.
The Ministry of the Interior had reinforced the number of agents who were ensuring security in Ferraz this Tuesday, where a new protest had been called against the future amnesty law that the PSOE is negotiating with the independence movement in view of the inauguration of Pedro Sánchez. Given the events that occurred on Monday afternoon, in which riot police had to use tear gas and smoke canisters as a deterrent measure, the Interior has decided to increase the number of troops to increase security.
As this newspaper has learned, a total of eight groups of the Police Intervention Unit (UIP) – the riot police – have been assigned, which represents a total of 320 police officers. Triple the groups that guarded Ferraz on the night of this past Monday, which were three.
The concentration this Tuesday reached 7,000 people, according to the Government Delegation, above the 3,800 on Monday. Given the “aggressive mood” of the protesters, the socialist leadership had asked all territorial leaders not to call for activities at the party’s regional headquarters.
The battleship of the socialist headquarters in Madrid has been gaining meters as the days go by. It was already seen this Monday, when the National Police cut off access to Ferraz from Buen Suceso Street and other nearby roads, and deployed dozens of agents both in the vicinity of the headquarters and in front of the demonstration fence.
What happened during Monday night marks the concentration this Tuesday: at 9:30 p.m., and as a warning, the agents of the Police Intervention Unit (UIP) closest to the fence used smoke canisters. Shortly after, they used tear gas and charged at the front row protesters when they saw that several individuals were trying to break the fence ties and throwing objects at the police device.
According to the reports, during the course of the demonstration people with “ultra aesthetics” gained positions to the front rows of the rally. After the altercations, the National Police seized an iron bar, three wooden sticks and three extendable sticks, among other objects.
In that cloud of gas the concentration was dissolved but races took place and several groups of protesters remained on the outskirts of Ferraz. Some took refuge from the tear gas in bars and doorways; others did so within the parish of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. At its doors one of the three arrests took place for attacking authority.
Meanwhile, the races and police charges expanded to practically the surroundings of Princesa Street, especially along Marqués de Urquijo Street. It was in these sections, as well as in surrounding streets, where containers and other elements of street furniture were also overturned.
