In central Barcelona, police arrested 128 people following mass unrest and looting, with a quarter of them minors. Euronews reports.
The unrest began on Saturday at around 18:00 in the Plaça de Catalunya area. Groups of young people dressed in black and wearing hoods began destroying street furniture. The situation later escalated into violent clashes with police.
Rioters built barricades, set fire to rubbish bins, smashed shop windows and threw stones at officers. Police used special equipment to disperse the crowd.
According to the authorities, a quarter of the 128 detainees are minors. During the night’s events, 15 police officers were injured, and around 14 shops were looted.
Because of the unrest, businesses closed en masse, access to Plaça de Catalunya was restricted, and metro train services were temporarily suspended.
Barcelona’s mayor, Jaume Collboni, condemned the incidents and promised to bring those responsible to justice through the courts. He also warned of possible consequences for the parents of underage offenders.
The President of the Government of Catalonia, Salvador Illa, backed the police response. He said the right to protest is democratic, but violence cannot be justified.
Catalonia’s Interior Minister, Núria Parlon, described the events as unjustified vandalism.
The authorities also stressed separately that the unrest is not connected to the peaceful camp in support of the right to housing, which has been operating in Plaça de Catalunya for a long time.
- In Madrid, around 25,000 people took to the streets in a demonstration to defend the state pension system. Participants marched from Atocha railway station to the Gran Vía shopping street.
- Protesters voiced concern about the possible transfer of part of state pensions to a private system. The issue of pension provision has become one of the key topics ahead of Spain’s snap parliamentary elections.