From the platform Defender a quien Defiende (Defend Those Who Defend), we present the annual report on the state of the right to protest in Spain, revealing an alarming increase in repression. In 2024, 1,140 rights violations were recorded across 228 documented cases, a figure equivalent to the total number of violations recorded in 2022 and 2023 combined.
The report highlights that protests in solidarity with Palestine were the most heavily repressed in 2024, with: 34 arrests, 133 identifications, 16 cases of judicial repression, and over 58% of censorship cases in Spain. This trend was already detected in 2023, when, in just three months, the solidarity movement with Palestine became the fourth most persecuted. This trend is not exclusive to Spain but is part of a global pattern.
One of the most serious cases documented in the report occurred on October 6, 2024, in Santiago de Compostela, where a large demonstration in support of Palestine ended with 9 people arrested, who now face legal proceedings for alleged crimes against public order and injuries to law enforcement officers.
The report also emphasizes the repression against the housing rights movement, which remains the second most criminalized, and the rise of the fight against tourism-driven gentrification, which gained significant prominence in 2024.
Additionally, the report confirms the consolidation of previously documented repressive methods, such as state espionage through police infiltrations and the use of the Pegasus spyware. Despite three years having passed since the first case was exposed, the state has yet to take responsibility or provide answers.
This year, the investigation includes the collaboration of journalist and activist Youssef M. Ouled, who analyzes state Islamophobia and anti-Muslim racism as systematic practices in Spain. The report concludes with a series of urgent recommendations to protect the right to protest, including a rights-based reform of the Ley Mordaza.