The center of Barcelona has registered this Wednesday disturbances, damage to shopfronts, and clashes with the police after the demonstration of the general strike of November 11. The incidents have been concentrated around Plaça de Catalunya, the Passeig de Gràcia, and its confluence with the Gran Via, after an afternoon of mobilizations that had passed without notable disruptions.
Groups of hooded people have thrown objects and pyrotechnic materials at the agents, while the Mossos d'Esquadra have carried out charges and deployed riot-control vehicles to disperse them. There have also been attempts at looting and attacks on the wooden protections of some establishments.
The balances consulted do not yet allow for determining how many businesses have suffered damage or how many people have been detained during these afternoon incidents.
Attacks on shopfronts and fire on the Passeig de Gràcia
El Mundo places one of the first outbreaks of violence in the throwing of objects at the National Police station on Via Laietana. Its account describes afterward attacks against businesses in the stretch of the Passeig de Gràcia closest to Plaça de Catalunya, where some hooded people have torn off the structures that protected the shopfronts and raised barricades with fire.
El Nacional has reported damage at a Geox store, against whose shopfront several objects have been thrown. According to this outlet, an electric bicycle thrown at the glass ended up breaking it. It has also described a bonfire at the crossing of Gran Via with Rambla de Catalunya.
Some of the businesses in the city center had taken precautions before the clashes. Some establishments on Portal de l'Àngel and on the Passeig de Gràcia had closed; others kept operating with restricted access or prepared to lower the shutters, according to the same information.
The Mossos charge after the throwing of pyrotechnics
VilaWeb places the first clashes around 19:00, once the demonstration was called off. According to its report, a group of hooded young people dressed in black, separated from the rest of the participants, has thrown flares, firecrackers, rockets, and other objects against the police device.
The outlet also reports the start of fragments of pavement, graffiti, and attempts to break windows. The agents responded with charges and movements of the Mobile Brigade vans, while the groups dispersed along different streets in the center.
The information matches in distinguishing those clashes from the march’s earlier development. The Atlas agency also describes a peaceful mobilization until the appearance of hooded individuals who began launching pyrotechnic material against the police.
The incidents come after the 11N demonstration
The protest had set off from the Jardinets de Gràcia at 17:30 and had traveled along the Gràcia promenade in the direction of Plaça de Catalunya. The call brought together the Sindicat de Llogateres, CCOO, UGT and other organizations under the slogan "It costs us our lives".
The general strike has been accompanied by demonstrations in different Spanish cities. In Barcelona, attacks on businesses and clashes with the police have begun after the mobilization ended.