MADRID – Recent violent street protests over the imprisonment of a rapper are “inadmissible,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Friday, in comments that accentuated a rift with his coalition government’s junior partner.
In impromptu remarks at the start of a speech about the economy, Sánchez addressed the three consecutive nights of rioting this week that have ignited a heated debate over the limits of free speech in Spain and a political storm over the use of violence by both the rapper’s supporters and the police. “Violence is an attack on democracy,” Sánchez said, “and the government will take a stand against any form of violence to ensure people’s safety.” Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska also stepped into the row,