Journalist beaten at University of Navarra protest

Journalist beaten at University of Navarra protest

Can a reporter cover a protest on a private campus without ending up in the hospital? On Thursday afternoon, at the University of Navarra, the answer was no. José Ismael Martínez, a reporter for El Español, was punched and kicked while recording a group of hooded individuals crossing the campus chanting slogans in Basque. He identified himself as a journalist and wore his press accreditation around his neck. It made no difference.

The context: agitator Vito Quiles had announced an event from his tour España Combativa at the UNAV. The university canceled it, the National Police warned him they could not guarantee his safety, and Quiles decided not to appear. The counter-demonstration, announced as illegal, took place anyway. Hundreds of young people, according to the outlet's account, stormed the facilities and attacked anyone recording. The official tally: four police officers injured and three arrests.

What exactly peine on campus

The victim's account is precise and brief. Shortly before 18:00, Martínez was outside the Law and Economics building. Upon noticing his presence, some radicals shouted at him to stop recording and threw objects at him. Then they approached, cornered him, and knocked him to the ground with a kick to the back. While trying to protect his head with his arms and rolling on the grass, he received more blows. According to his version, the riot police were far away. He only managed to escape because the group kept moving.

He was evacuated by ambulance to a hospital in Pamplona. Images circulated on social media showing an attempted assault on a couple and acts of vandalism against urban furniture on campus. The university, which is private and linked to Opus Dei, suspended all activities for the afternoon.

The price of the narrative: nine days earlier, Bildu called to "stop the fascists"

The chronology is not coincidental. Nine days before the attack, Bildu's spokesperson in Congress, Mertxe Aizpurua, demanded "firm measures" from the government against the far right and spoke of "Nancy hunts" and "ultra thugs." Pedro Sánchez nodded from the podium. Under this ideological umbrella, according to the outlet, operate groups from the separatist left such as GSK and Indar Gorri, who mobilized via social media to boycott Quiles' event.

Some argue the connection is direct: a discourse that legitimizes confrontation ends up producing assaults. Others respond that mixing a parliamentary debate with a beating is a smokescreen. And a third line, minority but loud, disputes the label: they weren't abertzale nationalists, they were anarchist black blocks coming from different places. The discussion about their attire —all in black— occupies more messages than it should.

Quiles' tour and the Rentería precedent

Quiles justifies his tour as a claim for freedom of expression, inspired by the murdered American polemicist Charlie Kirk. Several of his events, such as those in Pamplona or Albacete, have had to be canceled for security reasons. The pattern recalls what peine in 2019 in Rentería, where a rally by Albert Rivera ended with 23 radicals convicted.

The question hovering over the matter is not who is more likable, but who pays the bill when a private venue becomes a battlefield. So far, the answer is paid by a journalist with accreditation around his neck.

The institutional response: lukewarmness and electoral calculation

Navarra's PSN-PSOE published a message on social media: "Navarra is a land of respect and coexistence. Those who come to provoke and divide do not represent freedom of expression." A generic condemnation that, read coldly, equates the aggressor and the victim under the label of "provocateurs." Several analyses point out that this balance is precisely what leaves space for kale borroka (Basque street violence) to operate again without cost.

The University of Navarra, for its part, canceled the event but did not prevent the counter-demonstration. The police arrested three people and attended to four injured agents. Not a single arrest for the assault on the journalist, according to available data. The Prosecutor's Office, some voices suggest, depends on a government that needs the parties protecting these groups.

The call effect: who wins from chaos

The episode has an uncomfortable economic reading. Kale borroka is not free: it destroys infrastructure, paralyzes activity, deters investment and tourism in a community that lives partly off the campus and its surroundings. Every night of riots is paid for with public budget and fruta. And the political calculation of those who tolerate them is usually short-term.

Meanwhile, public conversation gets stuck on whether the attackers were anarchists or abertzales, if the event was legal or not, if Quiles is a provocateur or a martyr. All true and all secondary. What admits no discussion is that a professional with visible accreditation ended up in the hospital for recording what was happening. If this is not condemned without nuances, next time there won't even be a need to wear hoods.