In what seems to have started as a dispute between drug dealers the streets of Roquetas have become the focus of national attention as Guardia Civil in riot gear try to calm groups of angry African immigrants.
The disturbances were triggered by the murder of a 28 year old Senegalese man, stabbed to death during a fight in the neighbourhood known as Las 100 Viviendas in Roquetas de Mar, the majority of the residents of which are Gypsies. Groups of African men went on the rampage; burning rubbish bins, erecting burning barricades and trying to set fire to several homes in the area, one of which was that of the man who is supposed to have committed the murder. They also attacked emergency services attending the scene, throwing stones and bottles at fire-fighters, an ambulance crew and Guardia Civil. One Guardia Civil officer was hospitalised for serious injuries to his ear which occurred when the car he was driving was hit by a stone from a catapult. The crew of an ambulance also suffered injuries as a result of the glass from the windows of the vehicle they were in being broken by stones.
The mayor of Roquetas,
Gabriel Amat Ayllon, has said that the disturbances are just 'isolated incidents' and has played down the racial aspect of the violence although comments from Africans in Roquetas have been published in the Spanish press saying that they have taken to the streets to obtain justice for their murdered compatriot because 'without justice another Gypsy will kill another black and, again, nothing will happen'.
The dead man, identified by the initials O.K., was married with two daughters and had lived in Spain for at least three years. According to the Almeria Acoge, a charity organisation which helps immigrants in Almeria, the victim was trying to mediate in a fight between two others.
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