Barcelona riots lead Spanish pre-campaign as 128 are detained before 29-N vote

Lists close as the pre-campaign picks up

Spain's general election on 29 November (29-N) is a little over a month away, and parties are stepping up rallies across the country. eldiario.es counted 35 days to the vote on the morning of Sunday, 25 October. Monday, 26 October, is the deadline for parties to file their candidate lists for the Congreso de los Diputados and the Senado. Sunday's rally in Salamanca came a little over two weeks before the official campaign begins, according to El Confidencial.

Riots in Barcelona

On the night of Saturday, 24 October, a youth protest in Barcelona turned into looting, arson and clashes with police in the city's central streets. eldiario.es reported that the protest was called "against the system" through social media, and El Confidencial said investigations point to networks having instigated the gathering. The Mossos d'Esquadra have detained 128 people, 72 of them minors. El Confidencial also noted that the protest was emulating similar unrest at several points in Europe.

All detained128

Of whom minors72

All detained

128 people

Of whom minors

72 people

Data from the article text

Generalitat president Salvador Illa said the people behind the disturbances will be identified and called for "convivencia y democracia". Joan Baldoví, Compromís spokesman in Les Corts, voiced fear that infiltrators could be trying to take over the protests.

Feijóo and Sánchez trade blame

Speaking in Salamanca, PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo accused Pedro Sánchez of "playing with fire" over Barcelona. Feijóo said:

“It starts with whitewashing Bildu, and it ends like this. What we are seeing are the consequences of that irresponsibility.”

Feijóo stood alongside the PP's lead candidates for Congress, many of them mayors and regional councillors, and asked them to improve on the party's 2023 results. According to El Mundo, the event was designed to showcase their management records and mobilise the party's territorial structure.

Other candidates and events

In Móstoles, Frente Amplio's candidate Ada Colau accused the PSOE of "managing inequality" rather than reducing it when it governs alone, and said the Socialists never confront speculators or curb the super-rich. eldiario.es reported that Emilio Delgado and Toni Valero joined Colau at the Frente Amplio rally. Vox will present its candidates on Monday afternoon in Talavera de la Reina, the day the lists close.

In central Madrid, a march protested the insecurity the city still faces and sought to bring the Ceuta crisis back into public debate a month before the vote. Women described as "caballas" marched to highlight the situation in their city and to denounce what they see as slow action by the administration.

Government delegate in Madrid resigns

Francisco Martín resigned as the government's delegate in Madrid after being left off the PSOE lists for Congress and the Senate. He had held the post for three years, and his resignation came a little over a month before the 29-N vote.