Youth protest in Barcelona turns violent at Plaça Catalunya as Mossos charge

Social media call and the French link

On Saturday afternoon, 24 October 2026, young people gathered at Plaça Catalunya in central Barcelona after a call spread on social media under the slogan 'contra el sistema' (against the system). Reports differ on the size of the crowd: RTVE and La Vanguardia describe several dozen people, while EL PAÍS speaks of hundreds. The protest was named Instituts Indignats, a translation of the Lycées Indignés movement that RTVE says is behind student mobilisations in France. Protesters told Beteve that the chat groups were set up to copy the protests in France, and the Ayuntamiento de Barcelona said the gathering was not authorised.

Fires, barricade and damage in the square

Mossos d'Esquadra vans sealed off the square by the afternoon, and officers on foot pushed the crowd back. Some activists set fire to many of the square's litter bins and knocked over parked motorbikes, while the vans circled the plaza. A barricade of small containers, bins and motorbikes was built where Carrer de Vergara meets the square and was set alight. Protesters broke the glass of two bus shelters and began damaging a traffic light, and firefighters from the Bomberos de Barcelona were reported to have arrived to put out the barricade fire.

Shops closed and the housing camp

The Guàrdia Urbana closed the access roads to the square between Plaça Urquinaona and Universitat, and shops in the area pulled down their shutters. La Vanguardia reported that El Corte Inglés was among the stores that closed to protect their windows. Another outlet said at least one technology shop had been assaulted and several shopping centres had shut with customers inside, with attempted looting at several establishments. A housing camp in the centre of the square was not affected by the charges shortly before 18:30, and its organisers and participants stopped protesters from entering it. Kiara Monroy, the camp's spokesperson, said:

“We do not want to turn into violence a protest that we have been building peacefully for weeks.”

Charges and the disputed casualty picture

The Mossos charged the crowd after, according to LaSexta, some people threw stones and bottles at officers, and that outlet counted about 15 Mossos trucks on the square. La Vanguardia counted more than ten units in the operation and reported that most of the protesters, who were very young and hooded, fled into the streets next to the square. The same outlet said no one was injured and no one was arrested. RTVE, citing Catalan police sources, said the students had caused material damage and street disturbances, and El Mundo said many of those in the groups were minors.