Rabat – Supporters and relatives of Younes Blal, a Moroccan man victim of racist murder by a Spanish ex-military man, gathered on Sunday to commemorate his memory on the first anniversary of his murder, renewing their condemnation of the heinous and xenophobic crime.
On June 12, 2021, Carlos Patricio shot Blal dead in public following a verbal dispute on a cafe terrace in Murcia in southeastern Spain. The perpetrator shouted publicly that he does not want “Moors” in Spain before shooting Blal.
While he confessed to his crime, the 52-year-old man pleaded for the young Moroccan’s death to be classified as a “homicide” rather than a murder and denied any racist motives behind the crime.
The Association of Moroccan Immigrant Workers (ATIM) organized the memorial to pay tribute to the victim and reject racial injustice against migrants. Earlier this year, the Association appealed for another trial to confirm the murder was in fact a hate crime.
While Blal’s family and loved ones were praying for him, some individuals irrupted into the memorial gathering and started shouting “leave Spain, ***** Moors.” Police intervened shortly after, while Blal’s relatives and members of the ATIM association expressed their firm rejection of the verbal racist attacks. “No to racism,” they shouted.
“Carlos Patricio shot Younes, but Younes was killed by the hatred of the various low nationalist passions, racism, and xenophobia, fueled by far-right speeches and comments on social networks that stimulate rejection and attribute a value of truth to prejudices and lies”, ATIM said in a statement yesterday.
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The group demanded “that all migrants be treated equally” regardless of their origins, race, or religion. They also encouraged people affected by any form of racism or discrimination to report the incidents.
The barbaric and racist murder of Blal sparked outrage and shock among the Moroccan community in Spain and across the world.
Aged 30 at the time of his cold-blooded murder at the hands of an ex-military Spanish man, Blal was a father to a son with Andrea Hidalgo del Valle, his Spanish girlfriend who has since become a passionate anti-hate crime campaigner.
