Around 30 police officers have been injured as a housing protest in the centre of Barcelona turned violent, resulting in 13 arrests, including a minor.
The unrest took place last night as the initially uneventful march set off around 7.30pm. The demonstration was called by the tenants' union along with other organisations defending the right to housing and condemning rising rents and property speculation.
Violence erupts after dispersal order
Incidents started cropping up as the event was called off at around 9.30pm when attendees were asked to disperse by the police. Some refused to leave, with objects being thrown at officers.
Hooded individuals then started throwing stones, paving slabs and full glass bottles at the emergency services workers. This led to barricades being built using barriers, bikes, bins, fire extinguishers, materials from a construction site nearby and even knives.
Fires in tourist hotspots
The area around Plaça Catalunya and La Rambla - some of Barcelona's most popular tourist spots - saw bins and other objects set on fire with police using "water canons" to restore order.
Around 22 fires were started during the unrest, according to the police. The injuries of the 30 police officers have been described as minor while the number of injured attendees remains unclear.
Police statement and context
The disruption continued until around midnight, with individuals maintaining a "very violent attitude" towards officers, Metropoli reports. Firefighters had to step in to extinguish the numerous blazes but had to be escorted by police for their safety.
A statement from the police reads: "Police interventions have been carried out to make them [the protesters] leave the area, but the violent individuals continued to take materials from the construction sites near the La Rambla area, throwing massive amounts of stones at the officers."
The demonstration gathered around 20,000 people according to Guàrdia Urbana - Barcelona's police force - and 120,000, according to the organisers of the protest, Euronews reports. The unrest in Barcelona comes as a number of protests have been held in cities across Spain as public outrage grew over the televised eviction of an 87-year-old woman in Madrid in September.
It also coincides with Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez announcing an early general election after his government suffered a bruising legislative defeat last week on emergency measures related to the country’s housing crisis. The vote will be held on November 29.
