The National Police points out seven demonstrators as responsible for the police violence of last July 26th

PalmaThe National Police accuses seven demonstrators of public disorder and damages for the disturbances that occurred at the end of the demonstration against tourist overcrowding on July 26 in Palma. This is the main conclusion of the report prepared by the Superior Headquarters of the National Police in the Balearic Islands and sent to the court investigating the events, as confirmed by police sources.

The report, commissioned by the delegate of the Spanish government in the Balearic Islands, Alfonso Rodríguez, the day after the protest, details the incidents that occurred during the mobilization and defends the agents' actions during the charges. The police investigation is based, among other elements, on audiovisual material obtained during the incidents, including drone images, police recordings, and mobile phone videos. The submission of this report to the court now opens a new judicial phase. The magistrate will have to assess the evidence provided by the Police and decide, among other issues, whether to summon the seven identified individuals to testify.

The Police place the riots at the end of the demonstration

According to the police report, the demonstration proceeded normally until it reached Les Voltes. At that point, the officers informed the protest leader that the venue did not have the capacity to accommodate all participants during the reading of the manifesto. The Police assure that it was proposed to hold the event outdoors and that, given the insistence on accessing Les Voltes, three police checkpoints were established to allow progressive entry.

According to the report, the situation began to tense up when the demonstration promoter announced via loudspeaker that the Police were preventing access. Subsequently, always according to the police version, shoves occurred against the officers, who were surrounded on the walkway connecting Antoni Maura Avenue with Les Voltes. The document describes a "hostile crowd" that allegedly surrounded the police officers and pushed them towards Antoni Maura Avenue.

It is at this point that the Police place the actions of the group of protesters they now accuse. According to the report, the collected images allow observation of a small group of people, some with their faces covered, who allegedly threw bottles, cans, and stones at the officers.

The document also attributes to some participants kicks and shoves to the officers and the use of a flag pole. It also records alleged confrontations with tourists who were nearby. The Police thus justify the charges that left several people injured, including several in the head and back. All in all, facts that would be contrary to the internal protocol of the National Police, which establishes that officers must avoid hitting with the baton in a vertical direction – from top to bottom – and expressly prohibits impacting the head, neck, clavicles, and spine due to the risk of causing serious injuries.

Investigation into the charges

The police report reaches the courts while the other line of the case remains open: the one related to the agents' actions during the charges. A total of 25 people announced legal actions a few weeks ago through Alerta Solidària, which assumes the legal support for Menys Turisme, Més Vida. The protesters claim to have received baton blows "without justification" and also report that medical assistance to the injured was hindered during the police intervention. Faced with the police report, Alerta Solidària considers that the fact that the Police "try so hard to justify their actions" is precisely a sign that "the disproportion was blatant". The entity regrets that "a public body has to distort the facts seen by everyone in order to justify itself" and accuses the Police of trying to "make seven protesters pay for the broken plates and, incidentally, attribute a violent temperament to those who only mobilize in defense of the island and the rights of those of us who live there all year round".

According to the data provided by the organizations, 16 out of 25 people needed medical assistance. The majority suffered bruises and contusions, while two people suffered skull fractures. One is the photojournalist Xavi Hurtado, who needed six stitches; the other was admitted two days after an internal hemorrhage was detected. The complaints already formalized are thus incorporated into the judicial procedure, which will have to address both the alleged responsibilities of the protesters identified by the Police and the actions that the injured attribute to the agents.

An internal investigation into riot police

In parallel, an internal investigation has been opened into the possible disproportionality of the police action. The agents of the Police Intervention Unit (UIP) who intervened in Palma came from the Valencian Country, which is why this investigation has been transferred to the Superior Headquarters of the National Police in Valencia.

This route will have to determine whether the agents exceeded the use of force during the charges, including the case of the photojournalist injured in the head, an action that was recorded in various videos and photographs. The internal investigation was ordered after the strong criticism caused by the charges, also from the Spanish government delegate himself, Alfonso Rodríguez, who described them as "violent and disproportionate". In this way, the judicial case now incorporates two different lines of responsibility: the one that points to seven demonstrators as alleged perpetrators of disorder and damage, and the one that will have to clarify whether the agents' actions during the charges were proportional or if unjustified police aggressions occurred.