Violence in Valencia
20.12.2017
Question for written answer E-007916-17
to the Commission
Rule 130
Florent Marcellesi (Verts/ALE)
The civic procession took to the streets of Valencia, Spain, yesterday in celebration of 9 October, the Day of the Valencian Community. During the procession and the traditional demonstration defending the Valencian language (the region’s joint official language), which has taken place for over thirty years in the evening on that date, a large number of people taking part in the events were injured in attacks by Valencian far-right groups armed with sticks and iron bars.
The Government Delegation’s failure to act was the cause of the violence perpetrated by these neo-Nazi groups, who had gathered illegally during the evening march, as reported in Question E-007882/2014. It is important to highlight that it is the responsibility of the State to guarantee the safety and the constitutional right to demonstrate peacefully, rights enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution and which were not protected on this occasion.
In the light of this, we ask the following:
- 1.Is the Commission aware of the breaches of the demonstrators’ rights during the celebrations marking the Day of the Valencian Community?
- 2.Does the Commission know whether extremist groups from different European countries were involved in what can be described as the hunt that took place yesterday on Valencia’s streets?
3. Has Spain’s compliance with Framework Decision 2008/913/JHA been confirmed?