The Mossos d'Esquadra have found no links between Saturday's looting and other countries, attributing the disturbances to small groups acting for fun. There are 130 arrests, mostly minors.
The Mossos d'Esquadra have ruled out any involvement from Russia in the disturbances and looting that occurred in Barcelona last Saturday. According to the police investigation, they have not located any connection between these events and other countries or anti-system networks from Italy or France, which had been seen in previous calls of this nature.
The main hypothesis of the investigators is as follows: violence is practiced for its own sake.
“Violence for the sake of violence”
Initially, profiles linked to independence movements acted as a mouthpiece for the calls. Over time, according to the Mossos and other independent technologists, small groups of young people, many without a defined ideology, took control of the propaganda and turned it into a call for looting as a form of entertainment.
The agents have analysed the profiles of the 130 detainees from the disturbances. More than half are minors, and most are of foreign origin, particularly from the Maghreb. Few have police records. According to the data released, 70 of the 76 minors arrested are already free.
The investigators also do not believe that a single organisation is behind the planned looting calls for the next weekend in twelve Spanish cities. They consider these to be the work of groups of three or four people, with no connection between them, who use the word Blocus on social media to imitate the French student movement that ended in mass looting.
The call posters do not share a slogan. Some refer to job insecurity, others to housing, touristification, and evictions. Those announcing looting for 30 November in Bilbao combine the ikurriña and the Spanish flag with the message “Spain is rising too, lower prices, more dignity.” Neither unions, nor organisations, nor parties endorse that poster.
The police, however, remain very vigilant regarding the general strike on 11 November. They are particularly concerned about the interest of more organised anti-system groups in completely paralysing the city of Madrid that day. For the citizen of Barcelona, the practical message is that the calls on social media remain active and that the police presence will be maintained during the upcoming events.
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