Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska has ordered investigations into police operations during the general strike on 11 November. According to his ministry, the Directorate-General of the Police is to examine individual incidents separately. The minister also instructed officers to refrain from using tear gas when managing demonstrations in future. Left-wing politicians are calling for his resignation over the conduct of the security forces.
During the protests, there were police operations against demonstrators, among other places, in Madrid The broadcaster Cadena SER also reported the use of pepper spray, after which several people needed medical attention. According to the published information, the interior minister’s instruction concerns tear gas at demonstrations; it does not specify exactly which individual agents are covered.
The Interior Ministry said the investigations it had ordered would be conducted independently of the regular internal review, through which the National Police checks its operations for compliance with the applicable regulations. The results of the new investigations were not yet available. It therefore remains unclear whether individual operations were ordered and who, if anyone, was responsible for them.
Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun called for a thorough investigation. The politician described the police operations as unjustified and disproportionate. The Interior Ministry must explain whether they had been ordered or whether departments within the National Police had acted independently, he told Spanish television. At the same time, he stressed that many police officers worked professionally.
The Podemos politician Ione Belarra called for the interior minister to resign. She accused the police of using violence during the strike. Also Alberto Ibáñez, a member of parliament for the regional party Compromís, called for Marlaska’s resignation and criticised the use of force as disproportionate. The government rejected the call for the minister to be dismissed.
The general strike was aimed at problems accessing housing and at the high cost of living. Those calling the strike included the trade unions CCOO and UGT, as well as an alliance of tenants’ organisations. They linked the demand for affordable housing with calls for better wages. The strike lasted 24 hours and was accompanied by demonstrations.
Editor: Phillipe Schmidt-Araguin (Article created with AI assistance).