Catalan regional interior minister says Barcelona youth protest has 'no social organisations' backing it

Around 500 young people caused chaos on 24 October, by vandalising and looting in the Catalan capital's main shopping district. Parlon dismissed the incidents as having nothing to do with any youth protests over education or housing access. She assured that the Mossos d’Esquadra (Catalan police) are investigating the origin of the call to action in order to arrest those responsible.

Parlon also criticised the leaders of the PP and Vox parties for exploiting these incidents in the run-up to the general election on 29 November.

Saturday's incident ended with 128 detainees, 72 of whom are minors. Of the detainees, 122 are men and six are women. Two of them have previous convictions for public disorder. In addition, 14 Mossos officers sustained injuries, four of them seriously, and 20 shops were vandalised.

"What happened is senseless violence and vandalism," Mayor of Barcelona Jaume Collboni said. He assured that they would leave no stone unturned until they find those responsible for these acts.

"There was no demonstration, nor were there any social or political organisations behind this gathering, which appeared chaotic at first glance but had a clear aim of causing disturbances, looting and burglary," Parlon said in an interview with Catalunya Radio.

"We have to arrest the people behind it," she stated. The regional minister also pointed the finger at the digital platforms where the call to action was organised, demanding information from them and calling for the "closure of the channels" used to organise the event.

Parlon also said that the Catalan regional government will seek accountability from the families of the detained minors, some of whom are under the age of 14. She said that it's important for the public to consider "what we do with minors who commit crimes in response to calls on social media with no other motive than to cause harm".

Parlon refuted the claim that the call to action had caught the Mossos completely off-guard. According to her, in the hours leading up to the incidents, the regional police had carried out 300 identity checks in the area around Barcelona city centre.

She also called for time to allow the police investigation to run its course. Parlon said that they "are working" to find out "who organised it under the guise of the demonstrations in France" using the hashtag 'blocus' "via various messaging platforms" with the sole "intention of inciting looting and rioting".

The regional minister added that "we have now arrested some individuals" and that "police intelligence is the key tool for preventing a similar situation from happening again". There are fears that the protest might happen again next weekend and the situation could become chronic, as has happened in France.

Parlon declined any political analysis of the events. She did, however, criticise the comments of PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who blamed the PSOE for "inciting unrest on the streets", and those of Vox leader Santiago Abascal, who attributed the incidents to migrants and called on social media for them to be "educated in their own country".

"I keep my personal opinions to myself," Parlon stated when asked about a possible political motive behind the announcement. She warned that "we politicians should be very careful about what we say", especially "after hearing some of those who aspire to govern Spain".

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