A GRENADE has been thrown over the wall of a migrant children’s centre, which was previously targeted by Vox.

Bomb disposal officers carried out a controlled explosion of the device at the centre for unaccompanied foreign minors in Madrid.

A Policia Nacional spokesperson said the grenade did carry a small amount of explosive and confirmed there were no injuries.

Grenade Madrid
EXPLOSIVE: A grenade thrown over the wall of a migrant children’s centre

She said: “Staff at the centre found a suspicious object in the centre’s patio between 8.30 and 9 this morning.

“Specialist officers from the Policia Nacional attended and evacuated the children to a safe area.

“Bomb squad officers detonated the object, which was determined to be a practice grenade with little charge, which had been thrown into the centre’s grounds in a bag from outside.”

The incident took place yesterday in the Spanish capital’s Hortaleza area, the neighbourhood of the far right Vox party leader Santiago Abascal.

Abascal 1
FAR RIGHT: Vox leader Abascal has criticised the affected centre in the past

The politician had criticised the Hortaleza reception centre and its many North African residents as ‘unsafe’ for local people.

“I live in a working-class Madrid neighbourhood – Hortaleza,” he said in the run-up to the November 10 elections, in which his party recorded record victories.

“And every time I’m on the street – and there’s a centre for unaccompanied foreign minors there – I run into women who come and tell me that the police tell them not to wear their jewellery on the street; and mothers who are worried that their daughters are coming home late and are scared of being assaulted.”

Madrid alone has seen the arrival of 1,500 unaccompanied child migrants since 2018, with the figure expected to double to 3,000 by the end of this year.

Subscribe to the Olive Press

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.