Burning Barricade Blocks Central Barcelona Street as Youth Riots Spread

A barricade went up in flames in the middle of a street in central Barcelona on Saturday night, October 24, as a youth protest near Plaça de Catalunya turned into rioting and looting.

X user Polazo filmed the fire blazing across the road as smoke drifted between the buildings and onlookers watched from the pavement. Moments later, they turned to show diners still sitting inside a brightly lit restaurant nearby.

“It’s kicking off in the centre of Barcelona,” the filmer wrote.

The gathering was called on social media under the slogan “Instituts Indignats”, echoing the student protests in France, and trouble began at around 7 p.m. Hooded groups burned rubbish containers and bikes, threw stones and bottles at police and looted shops, while large stores around the square pulled down their shutters. Police said at least 100 people were arrested, 27 of them minors.

Catalonia’s regional president Salvador Illa condemned the unrest. “Violence has no place in Catalonia. Never. Protesting is a democratic right. Attacking, intimidating and causing damage is not,” they said.