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Date Published: 11/10/2021

ARCHIVED - Three stabbed at street parties in Cartagena prompting further calls for crackdown

The police union for the Region Of Murcia has demanded a "prompt plan" to tackle illegal street drinking, known as botellones in Spain

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Three stabbed at street parties in Cartagena prompting further calls for crackdown

Another night of illegal street parties turned violent in Cartagena at the weekend, in which three young people were stabbed and four others injured, prompting demands from police unions for immediate action to crackdown on 'botellones'.

Emergency health services attended to and transported four men, aged between 21 and 38, to hospital Sunday morning, October 10, with stab wounds of varying severity following "fights and riots" at large street parties near the Muralla del Mar, and the Universtity Campus (UCAM) in the Antigones area. Four others were treated at the scene.

112 Emergencias received the first call for assistance at 7.27am, which was quickly followed by "several more".

Local and national police patrols were deployed, supported by two ambulances and three medical teams who treated seven people injured in three separate fights. They were taken to Santa Lucía Hospital in Cartagena, although the extent of their wounds has not been disclosed.

Now, the UGT Región de Murcia union has denounced the "scarce police presence that was unable to stop the uncontrolled avalanche of people in the area around 6.30am on Sunday morning, where fights led to stabbings".

Sabado Botelleo en #Antigones
❌6 - 7 am👎
❌Peleas👎
❌Dispositivo policial 👎
❌4 heridos👎
❌3 apuñalados 👎
❌ Hasta cuando sin medios? @NoeliaArroyoHer y @JPedroTorralba moción de plan de choque ya!! @psoe_ct @MCdeCartagena @Podemos_CT @vox_cartagena pic.twitter.com/JCpUafQcLJ pic.twitter.com/1ZzrHydceo
— SPL-UGT REGION DE MURCIA (@SplUgtRM) October 10, 2021

This isn't the first time the union has demanded more police resources. For months, they have been highlighting the urgent need for a crackdown on botellones, claiming "every weekend officers have to face an increasingly complicated situation, which puts the integrity of the police at risk.

Two weeks ago, following a night of street parties and gatherings of up to 600 people, Cartagena Mayor, Noelia Arroyo, warned that the situation is "a social reality that we encounter every weekend".

She admitted that illegal street drinking is not a problem exclusive to Cartagena, "because we see images of botellones every weekend in all parts of Spain", but she added that "we need new resources and tools to deal with it".

Image: SPL-UGT Region de Murcia Twitter

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