The demonstration for the right to housing held in Barcelona on Monday ended in disturbances in the city centre, with 13 people arrested, including a minor, and 30 Catalan police officers (Mossos) slightly injured, according to the latest police figures released early on Tuesday.
The mobilisation brought together around 20,000 people, according to the Guàrdia Urbana, and 120,000, according to the organisers. The protest, called by the Sindicat de Llogateres tenants' union together with other organisations defending the right to housing, had been postponed due to a red weather alert and the heavy rains that hit Catalonia over the weekend.
The march set off at around 7.30 pm from Plaça Urquinaona and passed through several points in the centre of Barcelona. The planned route had to be altered, and the mobilisation ended at the junction of Passeig de Gràcia and Gran Via. Along the way, those taking part denounced soaring rents and property speculation, calling for measures to guarantee access to housing.
One of the protest's main demands was the call for a general strike over housing. protest's main demands was a general strike over housing. Before the march, Sindicat de Llogateres spokesperson Carme Arcarazo said the aim was to trigger a mobilisation capable of "paralysing the country", in coordination with other sectors. The protest also coincided with the announcement of a general election on 29 November and came just a few days after the government's housing decrees were voted down in Congress.
Unrest after the end of the demonstration
The march passed without any serious incidents until it was called off at around 9.30 pm. Police then used loudspeakers to ask people to leave the area around Passeig de Gràcia and Gran Via, but some who remained there refused to leave. Objects were later thrown at the regional police deployment.
The incidents intensified when groups of hooded individuals began throwing stones, paving slabs, glass bottles and other objects at officers. Barricades were also erected using bins, barriers, bicycles, and materials from nearby construction work.
At around 10.15 pm, Mossos officers charged to disperse the groups confronting the police. The unrest then shifted towards the area around Plaça Catalunya and La Rambla, where objects were thrown, and bins and other materials set on fire. Police also used launchers firing 'foam' projectiles during the clashes.
The disturbances continued until around midnight. The Mossos reported 28 barricades and 22 fires during the unrest. Barcelona firefighters had to intervene to put them out, accompanied by police protection.
For the moment, it is not clear how many demonstrators were injured.
Street furniture and vehicles were also damaged during the unrest. In Carrer Casp, burning bins damaged a parked car, while in other areas, bicycles and building materials were used to build barricades.