Protest actions in Barcelona: mystery surrounding 500 dubious looters

23 shops damaged, 14 of them looted, 128 people arrested and 4 police officers seriously injured. This is the record of the most serious riots last Saturday in Barcelona. 500 mostly very young people met in the central Plaça de Catalunya, dressed in black and with hoods on their heads. Without a rally, without protest slogans, they immediately began looting shops, setting up barricades and setting fires. More than half a week later, the incidents still raise questions about the perpetrators.

The Catalan police are investigating. First result: The participants have nothing to do with the usual violent demonstrators, for example from the Black Bloc or the Antifa milieu in Catalonia's capital. Of the 128 people arrested, 72 are minors. Only 2 were already known to the police for other violent protests. 25, on the other hand, had previously been in trouble with the law for robbery, theft or bodily harm.

Several Tiktok accounts were called up using the keyword Blocus. It was about better quality at the high school, it was said. A clear allusion to the protests in France. The posters, generated using artificial intelligence, played with symbols, but without conveying any political content. The Catalan independence flag was visible, but without any reference to Catalonia. Not even the Catalan language was used.

A code for scanning led to WhatsApp and Telegram groups. There were instructions on how, when and where the riot should take place. Journalists from the online newspaper eldiario.es managed to register there. They ended up in a group with 300 members on WhatsApp and 1,500 on Telegram. What surprised her: there was hardly any talk of politics. “I want to steal,” they said again and again and later the loot was proudly photographed. Most of the groups have now been deleted.

Given the many inconsistencies, it is not surprising that there is a lot of speculation. Spain will vote on November 29th. Who wants to stir up unrest? And who benefits from it? As with the mass rush to the border of the Ceuta exclave at the end of July, which was also organized online by unknown people, some are now again looking towards Israel and the USA. Their right-wing extremist governments have Spain's left-wing coalition in their sights. Wanting to weaken them before the elections is entirely conceivable.

One thing is certain: the riot is more than convenient for the right-wing opposition, which according to polls has a good chance of winning. "Do we also want the unrest like in France? Do we really want to get used to the fact that violence is part of politics?" asked the leading candidate of the right-wing Partido Popular (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, not hours after the riot in Barcelona, ​​but half a day before. Did he know what others didn't know? At least that’s what material for speculation looks like.

And the right-wing extremist VOX, with which Feijóo wants to form a coalition, accuses the socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of being directly behind the riots. “He is desperate, and that is why he sent us his militias,” says VOX boss Santiago Abascal. It remains to be seen what the investigation ultimately reveals.