In Spain, 128 people arrested in Barcelona for damage and looting during an undeclared gathering

Spain was not spared from the violence. No less than 128 people, including 73 minors, were arrested in Barcelona on the night of Saturday October 25 to Sunday October 26 for damage and looting of around twenty stores. The facts recall, on a lesser scale, the incidents surrounding the October 17 demonstrations in France.

Videos widely relayed on social networks show groups of individuals, many of them dressed all in black, running through the streets of Barcelona and attacking businesses after having gathered in a large square in the city center, as part of a gathering not declared to the authorities in advance.

According to Sílvia Catà, the head of the Catalan police, only two people arrested had "criminal records" and 14 Mossos agents, as well as a member of the Guardia Urbana, were "injured" during the night, during which 23 businesses were vandalized. “It’s gratuitous violence,” she denounced on the media 3CatInfo. Its services are now seeking to "analyze the profile" of the people arrested, "totally disorganized" but who have given themselves the word "on social networks", according to it.

Late Saturday evening, the Mossos had "recommended" to the population "not to approach" the area around the large Catalonia square, in the heart of the city, where "violent groups of people with their faces covered are burning containers, vandalizing street furniture and throwing stones at the police". Political reactions have poured in in recent hours to these unusual acts for Spain. In the middle of the campaign for the legislative elections of November 29, the leader of the right-wing opposition, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, called for “a change” for Spain “that is born at the ballot box, with freedom and respect”.