Several people were injured and shop windows smashed as a result of a fight between traders in Tavira on June 19.
According to police, the violent brawl involved more than a dozen traders of Indian origin in the centre of the city.
“The fight, involving people aged between 19 and 45, is related to a power struggle between two groups that have competing stores and Indian restaurants in Tavira,” said a spokesman from the PSP police.
An eyewitness, who wished not to be named, told the Algarve Resident. “It was a violent situation and some of the people involved in the fight got injured, which has caused serious concern among tourists, some were families with children who were in the area at the time of the incident. It’s worrying that the police took 20 minutes to get to the scene. A passer-by could have got hurt.”
Meanwhile, on June 22, officials from the Portugal’s food hygiene and economic activities agency (ASAE), PSP police and the border and immigration control authority (SEF) raided the businesses of the Indian traders involved in the conflict, which resulted in the closure of a restaurant that was operating illegally and the arrest of an Indian citizen who was in the country illegally.
