More protests in Madrid over the death of a street vendor

Police again charged over 100 people, mostly Senegalese, in the popular plaza Nelson Mandela in the Madrid suburb of Lavapies. Tension mounted on the arrival of the Senegalese consul, Mouctar Belal in the area where on Thursday a Senegalese street vendor had died after being stopped in a police check. The death led to serious disturbances.

The protests forced the diplomat to take refuge in a bar. With shouts of “Get out of here!”, “We don’t trust the consul!”, “We will protect ourselves!”, “Consul go home, we don’t need you!,” the protestors rejected the presence of the diplomat, who was reproached on Thursday evening for not having come out in defence of the Senegalese community as local people had requested. The consul was later escorted to his car. Police formed a cordon which was blocked by protesters who threw chairs, tables and stones at the car, and anti-riot police charged the protestors.

The mayor of Madrid, Manuela Carmena, suspended her trip to Paris and returned immediately to the city. The city council has already announced an investigation into the circumstances of the death of the vendor. In a press conference a city council representative said police had followed the man from the Puerta del Sol to his home in Lavapies where he suffered a fatal heart attack.