Around 500 young people gathered on Saturday afternoon in the centre of Barcelona, where clashes broke out with the Mossos d’Esquadra police. The protest ... took place near Plaça de Catalunya, where 220 officers were deployed to put the situation under control.
A number of hooded young people dressed in black set fire to waste bins and street furniture, pushed motorbikes parked in the area and looted a number of shops.
The Mossos d’Esquadra arrested 128 people, 72 of whom are minors. Of the detainees, 122 are men and six are women. Two of them have previous convictions for public disorder. In addition, 14 Mossos officers sustained injuries, four of them seriously.
Word of the demonstration had spread via social media under the name 'International call for a strike and student and youth demonstrations'. The authorities had received no official notification about the rally.
Despite this, the Mossos d’Esquadra had been monitoring earlier in the week the activities of various youth groups that had circulated the call to action through unofficial channels.
President of the Catalan regional government Salvador Illa has condemned the acts of violence: "Violence has no place in Catalonia. Ever. Protesting is a democratic right. Assaulting people, intimidating them and causing damage is not."
The housing camp and protests across Europe
The Catalan police had put security measures in place in anticipation of any incidents. During the riots, several police vans circled the square while riot police on foot tried to disperse the young people.
On Saturday afternoon and evening, the fire service responded to 33 calls to extinguish fires involving street furniture, while 23 shops were vandalised. The police issued 68 administrative reports for the seizure of bladed weapons, spray cans, balaclavas, fireworks and stones, among other items.
This demonstration is taking place against a backdrop of recent youth protests and unrest in other European countries, particularly in France and Italy. Although each demonstration arises from its own specific circumstances, the incidents reflect the spread of this type of protest across various European cities.