Pilgrims in Navarre Faced Assault and Anti-Christian Insults
Latin American pilgrims participating in the Javierada in Navarre faced verbal and physical aggression from nationalist youths, prompting calls for official protection and accountability.
On the night of March 9 in Lumbier, Navarre, a group of Christian pilgrims—many of them minors and Latin American immigrants—participating in the Javierada pilgrimage (to the castle where St. Francis Xavier was born) were assaulted by local youths identified as having nationalist ideology.
According to a formal complaint submitted to the regional Ombudsman, the attackers attempted to force entry into the pilgrims’ lodging, hurled stones and flares at windows, and shouted insults including “fachas,” “fascists,” “shitty Spaniards,” and “Francoists.”
The pilgrims contacted the Navarre Provincial Police at 11:29 p.m., but were told “they were not going to carry out any action or approach the scene,” and advised to “be patient” until the aggressors “ran out of firecrackers.” The incident lasted until approximately 2 a.m., during which time adult supervisors calmed minors who wanted to flee. The pilgrims requested formal protection and an investigation, while the political party Vox submitted parliamentary questions demanding clarification of the police response protocol.
Source: El Debate
Photo: Wikipedia. Por Euskaldunaa - Trabajo propio, CC BY-SA 4.0
