Palma/Madrid.—Spain’s Interior Ministry has agreed to pay €1.1 million for policemen’s antiriot gear as a wave of protests led by the country’s disenfranchised population is likely to spread across large parts of its territory this autumn.
Six contracts have been signed this summer by the ministry headed by Jorge Fernández Díaz, including the purchase of shields, smoke cans, riot vans with water cannons, bulletproof vests and helmets.
The country’s National Police will use the gear when confronting protesters calling for a variety of political and social changes in Spain, ranging from the ruling Partido Popular’s controversial abortion draft bill to oil drilling off the coast of the Canary Islands and last but by no means least the “illegal” referendum on independence for Catalonia.
WIDESPREAD PROTESTS EXPECTED THIS AUTUMN
Jason Moore