Barcelona unrest: 128 arrested as youths loot shops, clash with police

Catalan police arrested 128 people in central Barcelona on Saturday night, 73 of them minors, after a crowd of masked young people set fires and looted shops near Plaça Catalunya, regional security chief Núria Parlon said. An earlier police estimate of about 100 arrests rose to 128 as Sunday's figures were finalised.

The gathering followed an online call to protest "against the system," using a slogan borrowed from France's "Lycées Indignés" student movement, according to Index.hr. Masked protesters dressed in black broke into stores, including the El Corte Inglés department store, trapping shoppers inside after security shutters were lowered to stop looting.

More than 30 fires were set and at least 14 businesses were vandalised or looted, Catalan officials said. Fifteen police officers were injured, according to Spanish news agency EFE. Riot squads deployed vehicles and officers around the square to disperse the crowd into surrounding streets.

Catalan police are investigating "Blocus," an anonymous online group that organisers say called for the gathering, and are examining whether organised groups used TikTok to recruit young people, according to ElDiario.es.

Mayor Jaume Collboni said the city would pursue legal consequences, including against the legal guardians of arrested minors, for what he called acts that "will not go unpunished." Barcelona's city council later said it had replaced 31 burnt containers, La Razón reported.

The unrest drew political recriminations: opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo linked the violence to the governing Socialists without evidence and said he planned to travel to Barcelona, while Catalan regional president Salvador Illa condemned the "gratuitous violence" and said authorities would identify those responsible. Catalan lawmaker Gabriel Rufián said he thought it was "probable" that far-right groups were behind the disorder, a claim other officials have not confirmed.

A reporter for Spanish public broadcaster TVE was surrounded and pushed by protesters while covering the unrest, according to 20minutos. Catalan police said they were still working to establish who was behind the original online call for the gathering.