Following riots in the centre of Barcelona the Catalan police have arrested 52 people. Six of them are said to be minors, police chief Sílvia Catà said on 12 November 2026. Thirty-six police officers were also injured, seven of whom were signed off sick. The violence broke out the previous evening after a demonstration for the Right to housing .
The march was part of a general strike called by trade unions and tenants’ movement organisations in Spain. In Barcelona, the demonstration proceeded along the Passeig de Gràcia on Plaça Catalunya. The city police counted 55,000 participants, while the organisers put the figure at 400,000. There is no independently confirmed overall figure.
The tenants’ association, one of the main organisers, declared the march over when it reached Plaça Catalunya and called on people to disperse. Shortly afterwards, groups smashed shop windows, looted shops and set fire to containers, according to reports by elDiario.es. The police intervened and, after making announcements over loudspeakers, deployed forces several times to disperse the crowds.
Catà attributed the violence to members of radical anti-system movements. According to her, they had used the mobilisation to spread fear and chaos. The arrests were made, the police said, on suspicion of offences including assault, attacks on public officials, disturbing the peace and burglary. Those affected are presumed innocent.
Some participants fired fireworks directly at a police cordon from tubes, Catà said. Several Molotov cocktails were also seized. The police are continuing their investigation to identify further participants, according to the newspaper El Nacional.
Catalonia’s interior minister Núria Parlon condemned the riots and called on the trade unions and tenants’ association to distance themselves from the violence too. The tenants’ association spokesperson, Enric Aragonès, pointed to the hardship faced by people losing their homes, according to elDiario.es. The organisation stressed that the demonstration had put the right to housing at its centre.
Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni also condemned the violence. He told broadcaster RAC1 that it must not overshadow the cause of the previously peaceful rally. According to him, around ten shops were damaged.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).