At a pre-campaign appearance in Elche, Ignacio Garriga cited alleged attacks on police and damage to businesses and public property. The VOX secretary general said the PSOE had spent weeks encouraging hostility towards his party’s events and its national president, Santiago Abascal.
Garriga accused the government of encouraging violence during the general strike held on 11 November 2026. Spain’s first general strike in 14 years, unions framed the action as a national mobilization over housing affordability and workplace concerns. Reuters reported that unions estimated participation at four million workers, about one-fifth of Spain’s workforce. Garriga rejected Félix Bolaños’s description of the day as positive and challenged Salvador Illa’s account of events in Catalonia as calm and civic. He argued those assessments did not reflect the incidents he had described.
Reuters described the strike as mostly peaceful overall, while reporting later clashes in parts of Barcelona and Madrid. Incidents included roadblocks in Barcelona, along with burning tires and rubbish containers. Scuffles also broke out near Madrid’s main wholesale market. Police reported at least 73 arrests linked to 1,044 incidents by 21:00 GMT, including blockades at offices and industrial estates. Garriga focused on the incidents and damage he cited as evidence of hostility.
The dispute over the police response also follows separate allegations at strike pickets. A related report covered Podemos’s criticism of Fernando Grande-Marlaska over police action at pickets.
On 12 November, Grande-Marlaska ordered investigations into police conduct during the strike. Riot police used foam bullets and tear gas to disperse protesters near Madrid’s Plaza de España, and also used pepper spray. Amnesty International alleged that officers struck peaceful protesters with batons and used pepper spray indiscriminately. Garriga called the decision an “auténtico despropósito” and alleged officers had intervened without the means needed to guarantee safety. He questioned why the Interior Ministry was scrutinising police actions after the incidents he had cited.
Sumar, the junior partner in the governing coalition, called for Grande-Marlaska’s resignation, describing the police response as excessive and disproportionate. Bolaños rejected calls for the minister’s dismissal and said police commanders would assess whether force had been disproportionate. He backed a thorough investigation and said policing must remain proportionate. Catalan President Salvador Illa condemned the violence, saying it did not reflect the spirit of the peaceful protest.
Garriga contrasted the inquiry with what he described as the Interior Ministry’s response to migrant arrivals in Ceuta and El Hierro. He called for an investigation into whether orders had come from the Presidency of the Government to allow people to enter Ceuta. On El Hierro, he said the minister should have investigated why thousands of people had arrived.
Garriga called for Grande-Marlaska to leave office, accusing him of using the police while leaving officers exposed to criminals. He said the Interior Ministry was abandoning both civil guards and police officers.
He also praised VOX’s legal team over the Ley de Nietos. Garriga said the party had asked the Tribunal Supremo for precautionary measures and claimed its action had stopped what he called an attempt by Pedro Sánchez’s government to rig the law. VOX has filed a further request to extend those measures to the children of people affected. Garriga argued that if their parents could not vote, their children should not be able to vote either.
