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Spain: Prison sentences for attack on gypsies

01 January 1991

Spain: Prison sentences for attack on gypsies
artdoc March=1993

The Provincial High Court in Jaen has sentenced the mayor of
Mancha Real and 10 members of the ruling town council to one year
In prison and six months' banishment for their role in an attack
on six houses belonging to gypsy families which were burnt down
by an angry mob. In addition, the accused have been ordered to
pay heavy fines to the seven families who were obliged to leave
their homes. Similar fines, and sentences of up to ten years
imprisonment, were also handed out to five neighbours who
participated in the attacks. Altogether 22 people have been
prosecuted as a result of the Mancha Real case. (El Pais
24.10.92)

Discotheque attack

Four bouncers from a discotheque in Fraga (Huesca) are being
prosecuted for beating up with a rubber truncheon a Maghrebi
immigrant whom they had handcuffed to a fence. In the same town
earlier this year, a hostel for Moroccan workers was violently
attacked by youths armed with sticks and clubs, in one of the
worst incidents of racial violence in Spain this year. (El Pais
19.10.92)

Arrests following Columbus celebrations

Fifty-four people have been arrested following
counter-demonstrations on the `Dia de la Hispanidad'.* Of these
54, 30 were counter-demonstrators and 20 members of far-right
groups. Each year, the Day of the Races is followed by a
`caceria'- the hunt for immigrants and transvestites - by
right-wing groups. This year, 2,000 right-wing demonstrators
belonging to various fascist organisations, including the Falange
and the National Front, demonstrated, but were dispersed by riot
police. But two attacks on black immigrants have been documented.
(El Pais 13.10.92) [* The Dia of Hispanidad is the celebration
of Columbus' discovery of America. The annual holiday, on 12
October 1992, was instigated during the Franco dictatorship].

IRR European Race Audit no 1 1992
Contact: Liz Fekete Institute of Race Relations, 2-6 Leeke
Street, London WC1X 9HS. Tel: ++ 071 837 0041