Barcelona Mayor Counts 50 Arrests After General Strike Riots

Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni said about 50 people were arrested after disturbances in the city centre on Wednesday night, once the demonstrations called for the 11N general strike had ended. The unrest damaged about ten shops, according to the outlet Metrópoli Abierta, and burned containers and bicycles.

In a statement, Collboni condemned the violence and announced that the Ajuntament de Barcelona (city council) will join any court proceedings opened over the damage as an accusing party, with the stated aim of establishing what happened and assigning responsibility.

Where the damage was concentrated

The vandalism was limited to specific parts of the centre. The worst-hit areas were around Plaça Catalunya, Carrer de Pelai and some stretches of Passeig de Gràcia. Besides the damaged shopfronts, the incidents left burned street furniture, with containers and bicycles set on fire.

The Bombers de Barcelona (the city fire brigade) sent a hundred firefighters and carried out about 40 call-outs during the night. Most of them were for fires in containers and bicycles.

Cleanup started around 22:00

City services began deploying around 22:00 to different points of the city. Their job was to clear debris, repair street furniture and bring the centre back to normal as soon as possible. According to the council’s forecasts, the work was meant to restore the situation by early Thursday.

What the mayor said

Collboni described the day as one that had run normally despite how unusual the mobilizations were. He said the violence that followed, once the march was over, spoiled the protests. He attributed the damage to what he called organized, minority violent groups and said they had overshadowed a strike he described as historic because of how many people took part.

He also expressed support for the affected shopkeepers. The council had been in contact with them throughout the day, he said, and he repeated that the city intends to pursue those responsible through the courts.

The security plan in place beforehand

Before the strike, the council had prepared a specific security operation for the expected marches. It included about 300 Guardia Urbana (Barcelona’s municipal police) officers. The city also removed about 90 waste containers as a precaution and switched off 40 Bicing (the public bike-share service) stations along the planned routes.

Even so, the incidents began after the main demonstration finished, and they caused damage to street furniture and to private businesses in the centre.

What this means for the city centre

For people who live or work near Plaça Catalunya, Pelai and Passeig de Gràcia, the immediate consequences were burned containers and bicycles, damaged shopfronts and overnight street cleaning. For the roughly ten businesses that were hit, the council says it is in touch and will take part in the legal cases.

The figure of about 50 arrests comes from the mayor himself. The sources do not say how many of those detained face charges, who carried out the arrests or what the final count of damaged premises will be. The legal proceedings the city plans to join have not yet been described in detail.

What to watch next

The council said it will appear as an accusing party in the court cases that are opened. Details of those cases, including who is charged and with what, were not disclosed in the mayor’s statement. The city’s cleanup was scheduled to be finished early Thursday.

Source: Metrópoli Abierta