BARCELONA, Spain – Dozens of people, around 600, mostly young people of diverse profiles, among whom a majority of participants of Moroccan origin were present, gathered on Saturday afternoon in Barcelona’s Plaça Catalunya for a protest called through social media that degenerated into serious incidents and clashes with the Mossos d’Esquadra, who made around a hundred arrests, a quarter of them of minors. Many of the hooded young people involved in the protests and statements to the media were of Maghrebi origin, expressing slogans and complaints linked to the educational and social system.
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Under the slogan “Instituts Indignats”, a translation of the “Lycéens Indignés” movement behind the student mobilisations of recent weeks in France, the gathering brought together several dozen young people who, following the police intervention, dispersed in groups around the area. According to Catalan police sources, many of the young people began causing material damage to street furniture and street disturbances, forcing riot police to deploy and intervene to tackle the incidents.
As a result of the disturbances, the Urban Guard closed access to Barcelona’s Plaça Catalunya, from Plaça Urquinaona to Universitat, and businesses in the area pulled down their shutters to avoid damage. The demonstrators dispersed in several groups that continued to clash with police and cause damage in the vicinity of Plaça Catalunya.
