State of the Right to Protest in Spain 2025

A total of 380 cases were documented, involving 1,956 rights violations and 1,771 affected individuals — an increase of 66.7% compared to the previous year.

This increase is explained both by a rise in social mobilisation and by a hardening of the repressive response, which has grown not only in scale but also in intensity. In this context, mobilisations in solidarity with Palestine once again emerge as the most affected, accounting for approximately one quarter of all recorded cases.

They are followed by mobilisations for housing rights and squatting, as well as the antifascist movement, which for the first time ranks among the most affected areas. Together, these three account for nearly 60% of all documented cases.

A shift in repressive practices

The report also highlights a shift in the forms of repression, with an increase in more severe interventions. Detentions and violations of physical and moral integrity stand out in particular, reflecting a more intensive use of force and a deterioration of guarantees in the exercise of the right to protest.

It also confirms the consolidation of different repressive pathways — criminal, administrative and police — within a decade shaped by the implementation of so-called “gag laws”, with a sustained impact on rights and freedoms.

The report further warns about the استمرار of practices such as police infiltration, large-scale policing operations and the growing use of surveillance technologies, pointing to an increasingly sophisticated model of control over public space and social protest.

Finally, the report includes recommendations to strengthen the protection of the right to protest and reverse the regressive trends identified.

Download the full report here.