Barcelona unrest leaves 128 arrested as city vows to pursue compensation for damage

Police arrested 128 people following the disturbances around Plaça de Catalunya, where approximately 600 young people gathered before groups spread through nearby streets, smashing windows, damaging public property and confronting officers.

The police figures reported on Sunday listed 72 minors among those detained. Twenty-three businesses were vandalised, while firefighters carried out 33 interventions to extinguish burning bins and other street fixtures. Fifteen police officers were injured overall, including 14 members of the Mossos d’Esquadra – Catalonia’s regional police force – four of whom were reported to have serious injuries.

Barcelona mayor Jaume Collboni said the council would join legal proceedings over the destruction of public property and seek financial redress from those responsible.

‘This will not be left at that; there will be consequences for the adults and the parents of the minors; we will go all the way, both legally and financially,’ he warned.

Disorder spreads through the shopping district

The gathering had been circulated online under the name Institut Indignats, echoing the Lycéens Indignés student movement behind recent demonstrations in France. Authorities said it had not been formally notified to them.

Trouble began at around 6pm on Saturday, when some participants, many dressed in black and wearing hoods, started damaging street furniture around Plaça de Catalunya. Riot officers intervened, after which groups scattered into adjoining streets and the confrontations spread.

Officers faced stones and other heavy objects, while groups erected barricades, burned rubbish bins, broke shop windows and stole merchandise. Motorbikes, bicycles and bus shelters were also damaged. Police carried out charges as they attempted to disperse those involved and regain control of the area.

The disturbances unfolded amid crowds of weekend shoppers, residents and tourists. Businesses pulled down their shutters, and Barcelona’s municipal police, the Guàrdia Urbana, restricted access to the area around the square, including approaches between Urquinaona and Universitat.

The RENFE and Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat stations at Plaça de Catalunya were temporarily closed, with trains passing through without stopping.

Early accounts referred to around 14 businesses being looted or damaged; Sunday’s police assessment put the broader number of vandalised premises at 23.

Police investigate those behind the gathering

Catalonia’s regional interior minister Núria Parlon described those responsible as ‘unorganised’ groups who were not defending ‘any right’. She characterised the incidents as ‘gratuitous violence and vandalism’.

Mossos chief Sílvia Catà likewise said the gathering had spread through social media and described the movement as ‘completely disorganised’.

‘This is gratuitous violence,’ she said.

Police were examining the profiles of those arrested to establish what lay behind the disturbances. According to the police account, only two detainees had previous records for public disorder. Catà said cases involving children would be referred to the juvenile prosecutor’s office.

The proportion of minors was substantially higher than suggested in the first overnight accounts, which had put it at roughly a quarter. Sunday’s written police figures listed 72, although Catà gave a figure of 73 in a radio interview. 

Leaders condemn violence and distinguish it from housing protest

Catalan president Salvador Illa defended the police response and said ‘violence has no place in Catalonia’.

In a message on X, he backed the Mossos’ actions ‘to protect the public and businesses’, while drawing a distinction between peaceful demonstration and attacks on people or property.

‘Protesting is a democratic right,’ he said. ‘Assaulting, intimidating or causing damage is not. There is no cause that justifies violence.’

Parlon also condemned what she called ‘utterly intolerable acts of vandalism and violence’, saying they ‘have nothing to do with the right to protest and the free exercise of the right to demonstrate’.

The disorder took place close to the housing rights encampment that has occupied part of Plaça de Catalunya for several weeks. Authorities distinguished those involved in the disturbances from the housing campaign, whose participants have maintained a peaceful protest. ALSO READ: Spain’s housing crisis prompts general strike on 11 November, ahead of election.