Explosive device damages UGT headquarters in Vigo during general strike

The attack on the Vigo office

UGT-Galicia reported that an explosive device went off at its headquarters on García Barbón street in Vigo on Wednesday, 11 November, the day of the general strike. The blast broke the glass of the entrance door, which has metal bars, and left an opening in it. The union stressed that only material damage resulted, but warned that had the device gone off at another time, people could have been hurt. According to eyewitnesses, two hooded people placed the package, and the scientific police and TEDAX bomb-disposal specialists of the National Police in Vigo have opened an investigation to identify them.

A strike day with an afternoon march

The attack happened while the afternoon demonstration in Vigo was under way. That march set off from Plaza de España at 18.00 and was called jointly by class-based unions, the Sindicato de Inquilinas (tenants' union), neighbourhood associations, and environmental, feminist and student groups. According to UGT's executive committee, the strike had otherwise passed normally across Galicia, without serious incidents, which made the blast, in its words, a 'broche final' to the day.

Government blames verbal attacks on unions

Alfonso Lago, the government's subdelegate in Pontevedra, condemned the attack and tied it to a wave of verbal violence against trade unions in the days before the strike. He did not name anyone directly, but he referred to messages from PP and Vox officials, including the word 'basura', used by Madrid president Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and 'apesebrados', used by PP number two Miguel Tellado. He also pointed to an AI-generated image of a 'comegambas' shared on social media by Nuevas Generaciones de Madrid. In an audio message distributed to the media, he put the link between words and violence this way:

“When certain things are said, an atmosphere is created that fosters actions as intolerable as these.”

Lago also said the only other incident recorded in the province during the strike was an alleged run-over attempt on a member of a CCOO picket line early that morning in the O Campiño industrial estate in Pontevedra. He said he trusted the authors would be identified and would answer before the courts.

UGT's warning about polarisation

UGT-Galicia's statement blamed the attack on polarisation and on certain organisations that it said were working under the baton of hatred. The statement referred only to 'certain organisations' without naming them. It added:

“It seems that some, after more than 51 years of democracy, do not accept the rules we have given ourselves.”

The union also said that turnout and support for the strike reflected discontent over wages, access to housing and continuing price rises. It warned that the imminent elections on 29 November should not turn society into a field of fights in which its actors forget the rules of coexistence.

What remains open

Neither UGT nor the government named a suspect or a specific group behind the device. The National Police investigation is still working to identify the two people described by witnesses. Lago's comments placed the responsibility for the climate on the messages of party officials rather than on any identified perpetrator. The investigation is ongoing.