Reports of police violence in Valencia and Bilbao have raised concerns about law enforcement conduct during peaceful gatherings. In Valencia, a civil servant was reportedly assaulted by two Spanish police officers outside the Valencian Parliament on Thursday, 16 May. In Bilbao, another report said officers used batons against members of the Global Sumud Flotilla and their families at the airport on Saturday, 18 May.
According to an eyewitness account from a journalist, the Valencia incident happened around midday on Carrer de la Llibertat, behind the Parliament building. The civil servant was walking with his hands in his pockets when officers stopped him, asked where he was going, and allegedly pushed him against a wall and restrained him. He was said to be going to work at the Parliament.
The journalist said the worker offered no resistance. She also said the officers called for reinforcements and repeatedly asked for identification, which he did not have with him. She described verbal aggression from the officers, including questions such as, “Where do you think you’re going?” and “Who do you think you’re talking to?”
When the journalist questioned the officers, she said she was asked to identify herself and to speak in Spanish, despite showing her press accreditation from the Valencian Parliament. She said the officers also took her phone number. The officers reportedly said they were protecting the Parliament and that, without their intervention, protesters might attack the building. The journalist rejected that explanation, saying the teachers’ strike was peaceful.
The Valencia incident took place nine days into an indefinite strike by teachers, who had been protesting daily against the Ministry of Education. The day before, teachers had camped for nine hours at the Campanar headquarters. The journalist said their protests involved singing, whistling, traditional marches, altered song lyrics and original banners, and that they left no litter behind.
She also linked the Valencia case to the Bilbao Airport incident, saying there was no reason for force to be used against people greeting arriving family members. In Bilbao, the report said Ertzaintza officers used batons against members of the Global Sumud Flotilla and their families at the arrivals gate. The civil servant in Valencia was still not released when the journalist left, and a colleague arrived to help, but he could not be freed without identification.
For more local reporting, see our news coverage. Official information on the Valencian Parliament is available on the Corts Valencianes website, and the Basque police force publishes information through the Ertzaintza.