VIOLENT protests erupted in Bilbao as masked rioters clashed with police on Monday, turning the northern Spanish city into a battleground.
Hundreds took to the streets of the Basque city around 5pm, with groups later setting cars ablaze, looting shops and building makeshift barricades across major roads.
Shocking footage shows thick columns of smoke rising from burning cars, while rubbish containers were dragged into the middle of roads and set alight.
Rioters even torched a police motorbike before using it as a makeshift barricade.
Clashes with police broke out around 7pm, leading to 19 people arrests – including seven minors.
Three more people are being investigated over the violence, Basque authorities said.
The trouble came amid an anti-fascist protest against Vito Quiles, a controversial right-wing agitator and political commentator who had been due to speak near Deusto University on Monday evening.
Quiles cancelled the event over safety fears, but the violence erupted anyway.
The chaos has drawn widespread condemnation from political leaders, with Basque security councillor Bingen Zupiria branding the violence ‘unacceptable.’
“We are witnessing events that appear to have been carefully orchestrated, and that is also a cause for alarm and concern,” he added.
The Bilbao riots come amid a wave of youth-led unrest sweeping parts of Europe, with violent protests in France inspiring similar scenes elsewhere.
France has been rocked by weeks of demonstrations over education, university admissions and the rising cost of living, with clashes, fires and looting leading to thousands of arrests.
The unrest has also reached Barcelona, where a protest organised through social media descended into chaos on Saturday evening.
A total of 128 people were arrested, including 72 minors, as masked youths smashed shop windows, looted businesses and set fires around Plaza Catalunya.
The violence left 15 police officers injured and 23 businesses vandalised, with firefighters called out to tackle 33 separate blazes.
The Barcelona protest was promoted by an anonymous online movement called Blocus – French for blockade – which urged young people to take to the streets in scenes reminiscent of the French demonstrations.
Similar youth protests have also turned violent in Italy, adding to fears that the unrest is spreading across the continent.
Police are now monitoring fresh calls circulating online for demonstrations in several Spanish cities on October 31.
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