Looting and disturbances in Catalonia square leave a hundred detained

A gathering called via social media ended in looting at 14 shops and fires in central Barcelona. The Mossos d’Esquadra detained around a hundred people, a quarter of whom were minors.

According to tribunaburgos.com, a gathering of around 600 youths in Catalonia square in Barcelona ended this Saturday in serious disturbances. The protest, announced on social media, resulted in 14 establishments being looted and several fires involving urban furniture before the Mossos d’Esquadra managed to disperse the crowd.

The incidents began around 18:00 and spread to nearby, heavily trafficked streets. Some participants, with their faces covered and dressed in black, smashed shop windows of electronics, clothing, footwear, and optical stores, taking merchandise. Several shops pulled down their shutters, and El Corte Inglés closed after evacuating its customers.

The call carried the slogan “indignant institutes,” taken from the student mobilisations in France. The Mossos had been monitoring it for days in case it led to altercations, and the Department of Interior links it to other protests held that same day in various European cities.

The Interior Minister, Núria Parlon, and the mayor, Jaume Collboni, rejected that the disturbances were related to any specific claim or to the ongoing camp for housing access that has been in the square for weeks. Both spoke of violence and vandalism, without linking it to the fight for housing.

As evening fell, the protesters set fire to containers, urban furniture, and terrace awnings, and erected barricades with containers, motorcycles, and bicycles. They also threw stones at the officers, who charged with riot units and pursued the groups that dispersed into the nearby streets.

The Urban Guard closed access to the square. The Renfe and Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat stations located in the square were closed, and trains stopped stopping at that point. For those moving around the centre, the transport cut was the most noticeable aspect of the evening.

The Mossos d’Esquadra requested via their social media that citizens not approach the area. According to the police report, the intervention ended with nearly a hundred detained, approximately a quarter of whom were minors.

The mayor, Jaume Collboni, announced that the Barcelona City Council would take part in any judicial proceedings opened due to the damages. He warned that those responsible would have to face the consequences, whether they were adults or minors, and in the case of minors, he also pointed to their parents.

The president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, condemned the incidents in a message posted on X:

“Violence has no place in Catalonia.”

For his part, the president of the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, linked the disturbances to the need for political change in Spain and called for responsibility to protect coexistence.