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People in Madrid protest against rise in homophobic attacks

People in Madrid protest against rise in homophobic attacks

Madrid protest

Hundreds of people on Saturday gathered in central Madrid to call for better protection for LGBT rights after a series of homophobic attacks that have shocked Spain in recent months.

People waved rainbow flags and carried banners that read "justice", "touch one of us, touch us all", "we are being killed".

While speaking to Reuters, protestor Gabriel Escribano said, "We are here to protest against the continuous homophobic attacks and the constant aggressions that happen weekend after weekend."

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Meanwhile, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez chaired an urgent meeting of ministers, community leaders and police to discuss how to reduce hate crimes.

Such crimes have grown by around 9 per cent a year since 2014, according to the Interior Ministry.

Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska has said that hate crimes were on the rise and becoming more violent.

There have been growing calls for the government to take action since the killing of nursing assistant Samuel Luiz, who was beaten to death in July in the northwestern region of Galicia allegedly because of his sexual orientation.