A Week in Search of the Trail of the Alleged 'Ultra Groups' in Paiporta

"If one looks at the images of the visit last Sunday, it is very easy to differentiate those who express their anger in a legitimate way due to their frustration, due to the situation they are experiencing, from other perfectly organized ultra groups that were going to try to do the greatest possible harm to the authorities who were present there." The exact phrase was spoken by Pedro Sánchez shortly after noon last Tuesday, November 5.

At that time, the anti-terrorist services of the Civil Guard had already made the first arrest for the harassment of the official convoy in Paiporta the previous Sunday, and the Ministry of the Interior knew perfectly well that D.C.C. (the neighbor of Paiporta who broke the rear window of the SUV in which Pedro Sánchez was being evacuated from the area with a street sweeper's broom) had no radical background.

Moreover, the Information agents of the Valencia Command had already identified a good part of the people who harassed Sánchez during his evacuation and who hit the vehicles of his escort a few hours after the attacks. They were all local residents, including elderly women and minors, whose profile, a priori, certainly did not support the thesis of riots coordinated by radical elements.

Even so, Moncloa, Sánchez himself, or Marlaska (who claims that the president was physically assaulted, although the Civil Guard has not yet managed to find images of that moment) have fought to impose a narrative that the attack was 'organized' by right-wing radicals, a hypothesis for which there is still not a single piece of evidence a week later.

The convoy of the Kings, Sánchez, and Carlos Mazón, shortly after arriving in Paiporta, is met with insults and the throwing of numerous mud balls. A bodyguard of Queen Letizia is injured in the head by a blunt object. The president's security decides to evacuate Pedro Sánchez, while the monarchs and the president of the Generalitat stay to calm the situation. During Sánchez's evacuation, those present throw at least two sticks, which do not hit the president according to the Civil Guard, and cause damage to the convoy's vehicles.

On social networks, several users begin to share images claiming that Sánchez was hit by one of the sticks. However, these reports are accompanied by the image of one of those two mop sticks when it hits a photographer near the president.

Moncloa informs journalists through its channels that "while touring the streets of Paiporta, the convoy was harassed and assaulted by a group of people" and that "at that moment, the president's escort activated the security protocol and moved him to the Advanced Command Post." "The president and the rest of the convoy members are fine," ends the message from the Secretary of State for Communication.

In his first appearance after the attack, at the Emergency Center of the Generalitat Valenciana, in L'Eliana, Sánchez does not speak of groups or ultras or coordination in the disturbances. He limits himself to pointing to "absolutely marginal violents" as those responsible for the attack.

A fake report, similar in appearance to those made by security forces, with the title "appearance of ultra groups in the riots against Pedro Sánchez and the Kings" begins to be distributed among journalists and politicians. This document, twelve pages long, includes screenshots of alleged images of the disturbances pointing to the participation of various ultra groups, while linking them to known right-wing influencers.

Fernando Grande-Marlaska, in his first statements after the attack, supports the thesis that the riots were not spontaneous and that there was some preparation, although the Civil Guard at that time only has identified locals. "From the way everything developed and from the first moment, when they already access the streets, reasonably at least a minimum of organization existed," says the minister, who nevertheless expressly avoids pointing to far-right groups despite being asked about it.

In the same interview, the Interior Minister states that Sánchez was physically assaulted. He assures that he was evacuated "because there was a real and evident risk for the president, who had already received a hit."

Marlaska, in the afternoon, insists on La Sexta on the assault on the president: "The fact of putting a hand on a person is serious and even more so when it is a high institution of the State."

The anti-terrorist services make the first arrest. The arrested has no relation to ultra groups. The Ministry of the Interior sends the elite of the anti-terrorist services, the UCE-3 forces, to Valencia to try to confirm the 'ultra track', which their command colleagues do not find.

Pedro Sánchez, from Moncloa, points to the participation in the riots of "perfectly organized ultra groups" despite the fact that the first arrest does not support this thesis.

The director general of the Civil Guard, Mercedes González, both in her public appearance in Moncloa and later in an 'off the record', refuses to confirm that there is already a detainee and that his profile is not ultra. González expressly avoids pointing out authorships despite the accusations hours earlier by the president.

The elite anti-terrorist services arriving from Madrid arrest two more people for the attacks on the convoy evacuating Sánchez: B.F.M., a resident of Albal, and G.M.G, from Godella. Again, they are local residents with no past in radical groups.

This newspaper reports exclusively on the first arrested, a neighbor with no ultra background.

The Ministry of the Interior refuses to confirm the arrest of the neighbors without an ultra profile using the surprising argument that it never "informs about facts that are already judicialized." In reality, the vast majority of Interior press releases reporting arrests are about judicialized operations.

The Superior Court of Justice of the Valencian Community (TSJCV) officially reports the release of the first arrested "for allegedly hitting the official vehicle of the president of the Government."

The Ministry of the Interior, under pressure from the press, rectifies and decides to inform about the detainees with the argument that, now yes, "the judicial procedures have been fulfilled," although in the same note the department of Grande-Marlaska openly acknowledges that the last two detainees "are pending to appear before the court." At no time does Interior report that none of the three arrested have ultra links.

The deployment of anti-terrorist services in the area continues to try to find some indication of the ultra track. Officially, it is still not ruled out that right-wing extremists are involved in the events and that the attack was 'organized' as Pedro Sánchez claims.