Masked demonstrators clashed with police in Barcelona after a general strike protest ended, leaving businesses vandalized and at least thirty people arrested.
The unrest began on Gran Via when a group dressed entirely in black advanced on Mossos d’Esquadra officers with thrown tanks and stones, Ara.cat reported. Police lines were forced to retreat before launching a counterattack.
The group then moved down Passeig de Gràcia, where shops along the Llobregat sidewalk between Gran Via and Plaça de Catalunya sustained damage. At least one person broke into both an Stradivarius store and an Apple Store during the looting.
Officers deployed charges to disperse them and pushed the crowds toward Ronda Universitat and Carrer de Balmes to prevent them from reaching the Raval neighborhood. The unrest then spread to Pelai, Gran Via, and Carrer Aribau as demonstrators set fire to a series of waste containers.
Groups dispersed through Eixample streets including Muntaner and Casanova, with some individuals reaching Plaça d’Espanya. Plainclothes officers known as Fures detained participants for public disorder and assaults on authority.
Barcelona firefighters extinguished burning bins while Brimo riot vans patrolled Eixample and the perimeter of Plaça de Catalunya. Officers used short-range foam projectiles to disperse remaining crowds. Police suspected that some participants sought refuge inside the ongoing encampment at Plaça de Catalunya.
Police vehicles converged on the lower part of Eixample as officers pursued groups on foot to break them into smaller units. Authorities established a temporary reception point for detainees on Carrer Bailèn. While Mossos d’Esquadra initially confirmed at least 30 arrests, Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni said that the number reached approximately 50.
Catalan President Salvador Illa addressed the violence on social media platform X.
“Protest is legitimate, violence is not,” he wrote, adding that the actions of the vandals did not represent the peaceful demonstrators and warning that offenders would face consequences in Catalonia.
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