The previous day, more than 300 immigrant workers began a hunger strike in Santa María Pi church in Barcelona. They are originally from Pakistan, Russia, Ecuador, India, Morocco, and other countries. Norma Falconi, spokesperson for the group Documents for All, told the press that the hunger strikers would persevere until their demands are addressed.

President José María Aznar of Spain, speaking at the closing session of a national gathering of his People's Party, denounced "illegal immigration," and declared that his government would not decree periodic amnesties for immigrants without papers, as some have proposed.

On the same day as the protests, police arrested 53 immigrants who were trying to land on the coast of Spain in a makeshift boat. Authorities reported that five others were missing, and that one had been found dead.

The capitalist rulers and rightist groups in Spain have responded to the country's high level of joblessness, which stands officially at around 15 percent, by scapegoating immigrant workers. Estimates put the number of immigrants working in Spain without permits at 150,000.  
 
 
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