Numerous businesses were vandalised on Saturday. | Photo: Alberto Estevez
MDB DigitalEfeBarcelona25/10/2026 12:36
One hundred and twenty-eight people, 73 of them aged under 18, were arrested in Barcelona on Saturday, as the unrest in France spread to a number of European cities. Two of those arrested have previous records for public disorder. Fifteen police officers were injured, four of them seriously. Twenty-three businesses were vandalised and 33 fires were started.
Catalonia's interior minister, Núria Parlon, and the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, said there had been no protest to defend any "right". Incidents were unrelated to the camp in Plaça de Catalunya, established to demand solutions to the housing crisis. There was simply "gratuitous violence and vandalism". This had seemingly been whipped up by posts on social media.
The incidents began around 6pm and involved, at their peak, around 600 youths. Without any formal organisation or connection to a specific demonstration, they targeted commercial premises and street furniture; fourteen shops were looted.
Collboni made clear that his administration would participate in any resulting legal proceedings, warning that the unrest "will have consequences" for those of legal age as well as for the parents of any minors involved.
The Mossos d'Esquadra had deployed a large contingent of riot police to address potential unrest at a gathering, which they had been monitoring for days, that was supposedly to be like that of students protesting for better education in France. As the first incidents broke out, the police began charges.
The municipal police closed off access to Plaça de Catalunya. Businesses in the vicinity, including the El Corte Inglés department store, evacuated customers and lowered their shutters to prevent damage; in some instances, storefront windows were reinforced with wooden planks. The closure of shops to prevent looting left hundreds of customers trapped inside until the situation allowed them to leave - in some cases through back exits or emergency doors.
The president of Catalonia Salvador Illa, condemned the damage caused, stating: "Violence has no place in Catalonia". In a post on X, the president of the Partido Popular, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, said the unrest demonstrated that Spain needs "a change".