Catalan Independence
Police were deployed to the streets of Barcelona on Saturday after supporters of Catalan independence protested against a National Police rally in the city.
Photographs showed police dressed in riot gear wielding truncheons as they attempted to push back against marchers from the Committee for the Defense of the Republic (CDR).
The demonstrators were reportedly attempting to march on a rally organised by the JUSAPOL police trade union.
Police officers were in Barcelona to call for higher wages. Many carried Spanish flags in an apparent display of support for Spanish unity.
Spanish police forces including the National Police have been the target of resentment from some pro-secession supporters following their crackdown on last year’s independence referendum.
People Trafficking
The National Police working with their counterparts in France have arrested nine people in connection with the alleged obtaining of Fake asylum status for more than 1,000 Palestinian refugees.
The Interior Ministry said the operation, coordinated by Europol saw five people detained in Madrid and four in France. Six have been remanded in custody.
Investigators claim the nine suspects were part of a gang which has trafficked some 1,200 refugees from Palestine into Spain since January this year.
They were brought into Spain through Madrid airport, with each refugee charged around €8,000 which netted the group about €9 million according to police allegations.
The investigation continues.
Child Abandonment
Police have arrested a British couple for allegedly abandoning their new-born child in hospital.
Officers say the baby’s mum was still dressed in her hospital gown when she was tracked down and arrested.
Officials would not disclose the couple’s age but say they were held in the village of Fuente Piedra near Antequera.
A magistrate will question the pair and decide whether they should be bailed or remanded in custody as the criminal investigation continues.
The couple are thought to live in Spain
Cannabis
An Organised cannabis-dealing gang played classical music to their plants to help them grow, according to police in Alicante.
Five men of Swedish, German and Spanish nationality, aged between 35 and 55, have been arrested in Elche, San Miguel de Salinas and Almoradí after huge plantations in rented homes and warehouses were uncovered.
At least 2,000 plants were growing in the multiple properties and 33 kilos of hash already bagged up for sale were seized.
Classical music was played 24 hours a day to the plants in a bid to help them grow more quickly and produce a better-quality crop.
The ringleader, a Swedish man .. who lives in a luxury villa in Elche, is said to be wanted for previous offenses relating to drug-dealing and money-laundering.