Mossos Arrest Another Teen Over Blocus Riots, About Ten Now Held
Catalan police arrested another minor accused of spreading Blocus protest calls on TikTok, bringing arrests over the Barcelona riots to about ten.
The Mossos d’Esquadra (Catalonia’s regional police) have arrested another minor in the Vallès Occidental area near Barcelona, accusing the teenager of spreading and organizing calls for the Blocus youth protests online. With this arrest, about ten people in Catalonia have now been detained over their suspected role in organizing the riots, according to El País, La Vanguardia and the EFE news agency.
The Mossos announced the arrest in a statement. Police say the investigation into who started the Blocus protests is still open and that more arrests are possible.
What police say the teenager did
According to the Mossos, the suspect ran a TikTok profile and belonged to several messaging groups. Police allege that the teen used those accounts to help spread the call for the Oct. 24 protest, which caused chaos in central Barcelona, and for later gatherings, including the ones held last Saturday.
Investigators also believe the minor was part of other instant-messaging groups that were allegedly used to share the protest call and coordinate turnout. The Mossos describe the suspect’s role in those channels as “participación activa” (active participation), and say the teen encouraged violent mobilizations and shared content about them.
The teenager has been placed at the disposal of the Fiscalía de Menores (the juvenile prosecutor’s office). The charges are public disorder and belonging to a criminal group.
How the arrest came about
The arrest grew out of Mossos investigations on social media, with TikTok as the main focus. Calls to join Blocus have spread quickly on the platform in recent weeks, according to the reports.
The Vallès Occidental is a comarca (county) in the province of Barcelona. Reports differ slightly on the location: some headlines say the arrest was made in Barcelona, while the full reports name the Vallès Occidental.
What it means for Barcelona residents
The Blocus gatherings are youth protests organized largely through social media, and the Oct. 24 call ended in disorder in the city center. With police treating online promotion of the riots as possible membership of a criminal group, people who share or coordinate the calls face criminal charges, not only those who take part on the street.
For residents and visitors in central Barcelona, the case shows the protests have continued past Oct. 24, with more gatherings last Saturday. Police have not said when or where further Blocus calls are expected. People in the city center can follow official updates from the Mossos d’Esquadra and the Ajuntament de Barcelona (city council) for any disruption.
What happens next
The juvenile prosecutor will handle the case against the minor arrested this week. The wider Mossos investigation into the origin of the Blocus protests remains open, and police have not ruled out more arrests.
Sources: El País, La Vanguardia, Infobae
