Spain: "Youths" attack ambulances and police carrying elderly people - Voice of Europe

A gang of youths in masks and hoods attacked a convoy of ambulances with a police escort in La Línea de la Concepción that was bringing elderly people from Alcalá del Valle. Later, they attacked the building where the pensioners are being housed.

The police said that the youths threw stones at the vehicles as they were transporting the residents of a retirement home which had seen an outbreak of the coronavirus virus (COVID-19) to a new home, according to a report by The Daily Mail. Later, they threw incendiary Molotov cocktails at the police officers who were guarding the home.

Two were arrested for blocking the road with a car in an attempt to stop the convoy from entering the town. Reports indicate that the men had earlier been calling on social media for barricades made of burning tyres to be set up to stop the ambulances. They were angered that people were being brought into the town from an infected area.

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Later, fifty rioters surrounded the building where the pensioners are being held. Police moved to protect the building. Both the police and healthcare workers were threatened by the crowd. People on the rooftop of a neighboring building threw an explosive device at the officers which missed. Another attack occurred half an hour later. Trash cans were also set on fire.

In addition to the violence, the rioters were in violation of Spain’s shelter-in-place order, which requires that people do not venture outside without essential cause and cannot assemble in groups.

The pensioners’ reception in La Línea de la Concepción was in sharp contrast to their departure from Alcalá del Valle, when residents came out to their balconies to show their support for them and wish them well as the convoy left the facility. The move is only temporary until the home can be disinfected.

Elderly people are particularly at risk of mortality if they become infected with the virus.

La Línea de la Concepción, near Gibraltar, suffers from a high unemployment rate and is considered a center for illegal drug and cigarette trafficking. “There is a tense atmosphere here because those who smuggle illicit tobacco or hashish can’t do anything, they can’t leave their homes without justification,” a police spokesman told Sud Ouest according to their report on the incident.

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