Torre Pacheco, a town in the southeastern region of Murcia in Spain, made headlines after a pensioner was beaten by three young men this week, sparking a protest caught up in violent unrest.
Domingo, the 68-year-old victim of the attack, said he was on his regular morning walk when the three men showed up.
Police have abandoned the robbery as the motive, saying the attack was likely filmed as part of a vulnerable social media “challenge” targeting seniors.
Three people of North African origin have been arrested. One of them, a 19-year-old man believed to be an attacker, was taken into custody in the province of Gipuzcoa, Basque, while trying to flee to France.
The incident sparked two nights of protest, which quickly turned into a violent obstacle, with reports that the group roaming the city looking for people of foreign origin. Despite the heavy presence of the police, several people were injured.
Far-right anti-immigrant groups like “Now” are calling for attacks on people of North African origin. The leader of the Spanish group, known only by the Initial CLF, was detained in the province of Barcelona on suspicion of inciting violence.
His arrest is one of them At least 14 It is being made in regards to the ongoing riots, with reports of businesses belonging to residents of foreign origin, including kebab shops, being destroyed.
According to the Murcia Regional Government Statistics Bureau, Torre Pacheco has 40,000 residents, of which 6,829 have African origins.
The images of pensioner injuries are real, but no footage has been shown yet
Images of Domingo, the 68-year-old victim of the attack, have become a virus.
These images are authentic and show the extent of his injury and gravity.
However, the videos that are widely circulating online to show the attack have been amplified by prominent politicians, including anti-establishment leaders – are actually irrelevant.
Both the victim, Domingo and local authorities confirmed that it appears that the perpetrators filmed the attack, but this was not a corresponding video.
Since then, it has been revealed that the video actually shows another attack on another man from Almeria, a town about 200km from Torre Pacheco in the Andalusian region.
In a video statement published on Instagram by account @josemoya6422, the man confirmed that the video shows him and holds as evidence the item of clothing he was wearing during the attack.
“I’m from Almeria (…). These are two different attacks,” explains the man. In another post, he explains that the two young people are already in interim prisons for attacks on him.
He also shares a link to the article Almeria’s voice Dated May 31, 2025. This corresponds to his description of the event.
No verified footage of the attack on Domingo has been shown yet, but the photos showing the injuries he suffered are real.
Unrelated videos claim to show the anxiety that follows
Euroverify and Spanish Fact Checkers have also identified a series of unrelated videos related to anti-immigrant unrest that have emerged in the town of Tore Pacheco since the attack.
The widely circulating video claims to show a group of young people who describe social media users as “immigrants” and explain to attack another older man on the streets of town.
However, inverse image searches show that they were filmed in Guadalajara, Mexico in 2021, and often re-emerge as disinformation related to young immigrants.
Another video shows people throwing things at Spanish police officers claiming that users are showing Torre Pacheco when a man is arrested on the street.
However, the scene occurred earlier this month in the town of Torrevieja, another province of Spain.
Local governments did not associate criminality with immigration
Fake communications from Torre Pacheco’s city hall are also widely distributed online, with protests being invited to allegedly opposed to the situation of “uncertainty” in the municipality due to the incident in which “immigration” is the “common denominator.”
However, the document was fake and Torre Pacheco’s City Hall denied it existed.
However, it was rapidly circulated in telegrams and was also amplified by the Russian state-sponsored media Pravda.
Nevertheless, the congregation was organized by the local town hall in the aftermath of the Domingo attack. Official Website.
The poster reads that the congregation is “opposed to recent criminal activities by municipalities,” but does not mention migration as a common denominator, as allegedly in the misinformation.
Authorities crack down on misinformation
Incitement to hatred against social platforms also played a role in burning tensions in Torre Pacheco, Spanish officials said.
Euroverify has seen several messages calling for town migrants to be “exiled now” in two telegram groups associated with far-right extremist groups.
Police sources also told Spanish Media Elmundo that “hundreds” of radical extremists traveled to Tore Pacheco to join the riot after being mobilized online.
