Illa warns that "those who come to loot will answer to justice"

The Mossos d'Esquadra activate level 4 alert in Barcelona for the Blocus call this Saturday. The president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, warns that there will be consequences for those who proceed to loot.

According to infobae.com, the Mossos d'Esquadra plan to deploy a level 4 device in Barcelona this Saturday, the highest on their risk scale, in response to a new call from the digital group Blocus. The president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, has reinforced the message from his account on X.

"Those who come to loot will answer to justice, just as those arrested on the 24th are already responding. And no one is guilty because of their origin."

Illa also reminded that la Castanyada belongs to everyone. The day coincides with Halloween and a match of FC Barcelona at 21:00 hours, which will increase the usual activity in the city centre.

The level 4 alert has only been activated once before, in 2021, during the protests over the imprisonment of rapper Pablo Hasél, when opportunistic groups looted shops. The classification system has been used by the General Information Commissioner since 2019.

The protest last Saturday, also called by Blocus, ended with 133 arrests and over 500 identified. It was classified as level 2, as the Mossos had no prior knowledge of a phenomenon without ideology or previous demonstration. About 500 youths looted shops, burned barricades, and attacked the police.

For this day, Blocus channels have called for three actions in Barcelona: at 17:00 hours in plaza Cataluña and paseo Lluis Companys, and at 20:00 hours in paseo de Gracia. The police operation will start at 15:00 hours with intensive controls on public transport in the capital and its metropolitan area, to identify individuals who may cause disturbances.

The Mossos hope that these prior controls will be enough to deter incidents and avoid a harsher phase, with arrests if there are looting or attacks on officers. They have warned local businesses, although they are not asking them to close preventively nor recommending that citizens avoid the centre.

Additionally, protests by Blocus have been called today in Lleida, Badalona, Igualada, Mataró, Girona, Terrassa, Gavà, Figueres, and Platja d'Aro. In these locations, the risk has been classified as level 2, so each will have its own police operation.