Judge Jails 3 of 52 Arrested After Barcelona General Strike Riots
Three people arrested in the riots after the Nov. 11 general strike march in Barcelona were jailed without bail. What the charges are and what the damage was.
Three of the people arrested in the riots that followed the general strike march in Barcelona on Nov. 11 were sent to provisional prison without bail on Friday, Nov. 13. Ara reported the order came from the city’s Tribunal d’Instància (first-instance court), while 3Cat named the Tribunal Superior de Justícia de Catalunya (Catalonia’s high court), so reports differ on which court issued it.
The three were among 26 detainees brought before a judge on Friday. The rest of that group were released while the case goes on, both outlets said.
What the detainees are accused of
According to 3Cat, the cases cover public disorder, assault on officers of the law (atemptat contra l’autoritat), criminal damage and arson over two burned waste containers. Ara listed damage, assault on authority and public disorder.
Police arrested 52 people on Wednesday night. Of those, 42 have now appeared in court: the 26 on Friday and 16 on Thursday, who were given provisional release, 3Cat reported. Ara said 6 of the 52 are minors.
How the night after the march unfolded
Once the joint strike march ended, about 500 hooded people set containers on fire and attacked shops and street furniture, Tot Barcelona reported. Carrer de Pelai, the Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes and Passeig de Gràcia were among the hardest hit streets.
The Mossos d’Esquadra (Catalonia’s police) said in a post on X that the 52 arrested included 46 adults (32 men and 14 women) and 6 male minors, with an average age of 24. The force counted 36 injured officers, 7 of them on sick leave, and 42 fires at different points in the city.
Mayor Jaume Collboni told RAC 1 that 110 containers were burned. The cost of the burned containers has climbed into six figures in euros, according to Tot Barcelona. About ten businesses were damaged, among them the Lego store on Passeig de Gràcia.
Sílvia Catà, the head of the Mossos in Barcelona, said two minors were arrested carrying two Molotov cocktails. She also said the Apple and H&M stores were attacked with explosive devices and that 10 businesses in total were vandalized. In parts of the Eixample, hooded groups burned containers with no police or firefighters present, and some neighbors came out to put out fires and stop people from taking stones from builders’ rubble sacks, Tot Barcelona reported. Rioters threw fireworks at Mossos officers, according to El Món journalist Quico Sallés.
Links to the Oct. 24 unrest
The scenes echoed Oct. 24, when people answering a call by the Blocus movement looted shops and set street furniture alight. Interior minister Núria Parlon said the Nov. 11 riots were separate from the Blocus case, but two of the detainees are connected to it. One minor arrested for public disorder had also been detained over Blocus and was under an order to stay away from any demonstration, Parlon said, and one adult arrested for disorder and assault on authority was also detained on the 24th. She called those responsible “four ragtag thugs” (quatre arreplegats facinerosos).
What it means for Plaça de Catalunya
Collboni said on Thursday that the city wants to restore normal use of Plaça de Catalunya, where a pro-housing protest camp has stood for weeks. “Our goal is to celebrate Christmas normally,” he said, adding that the square belongs to everyone. Last Friday the Ajuntament (city council) said it was holding off, for now, on putting up the Christmas lights in the square because of the camp.
Barcelona Oberta, the association of the city’s shopping streets, demanded that the camp be cleared after the strike. Tot Barcelona read the mayor’s words as a sign the square could be emptied soon.
Sources: Ara, 3Cat 324, Tot Barcelona
