Sixteen arrests were made in Palma last night after a protest being staged in the Plaça Espanya became increasingly violent.
A squad of some eighty Palma and National Police officers went to the square around 11.20pm. Some 300 people, the great majority of them young, had gathered and were chanting slogans against the Balearic government, restrictive measures and the wearing of masks.
The crowd grew larger and police ordered them to disperse on three occasions. When they did not, there was a police charge. This was met with the throwing of stones and other objects. Four officers were injured; one needed hospital treatment.
The protests continued in various parts of the city. There was damage to cars and wastebins among other things. Palma's mayor, José Hila, condemned the "illegal gathering" and praised the work of the police, concluding that behaviour such as this "does not help us to move on".