Feijóo blames Sánchez for Barcelona unrest as 128 people are detained

Night of unrest in Barcelona

Protests in Barcelona's Plaza de Cataluña turned violent on Saturday, 24 October. Mossos d'Esquadra vans surrounded the square as activists, most of them hooded and dressed in black, gathered there. Firefighters put out a barricade made of small containers, bins and motorbikes at the junction of Bergara street and the square, while police made short charges to clear the crowd. Activists smashed the glass of two bus shelters and a traffic light, and set fire to bins and part of a bar terrace. By around 21:45, no fires were still burning on street fixtures, although damage and looting of shop fronts, bus shelters and bins had taken place.

Media reports put the number of people detained at 128, while RTVE described around a hundred. LaVanguardia reported that more than half of those detained were minors. Police sources told Europa Press that arrests had been made but did not give a figure.

Feijóo ties the violence to the government

On Sunday, 25 October, Alberto Núñez Feijóo spoke at a pre-campaign event in Salamanca, where he presented 52 candidates for Congress ahead of the general election on 29 November. He opened by sending a hug to the women from Ceuta who had marched in Madrid that day, and by condemning the disturbances in Barcelona. He then held Pedro Sánchez responsible, saying the government was 'playing with fire' and that the violence was the result of 'irresponsibility'. Feijóo said that political figures from the radical left had justified the rising tension in the streets, and he added the PSOE to that criticism. He also recalled earlier disturbances in A Coruña that followed an event by Santiago Abascal.

“They are resisting leaving power through violence. As they have lost the street, now they want to set it on fire.”

Housing, prices and the November vote

Feijóo argued that the government had not resolved any of 'the great problems of Spanish people' during its eight years in office. He said everything now costs more and that wages no longer stretch far enough. On housing, he said some 35-year-olds still lived in their childhood bedrooms at their parents' homes, and that some families spent more than 50% of their salary on rent. He told the audience that Spaniards should vote on 29 November in peace and freedom, which he presented as the answer to the unrest.

Next steps and the campaign

Feijóo said he would travel to Barcelona on Wednesday, 28 October, to show support for residents, the Mossos d'Esquadra, the National Police and the Guardia Civil. Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, president of the Junta de Castilla y León, also spoke at the event and described the 29 November election as a key moment in Spanish history. Mañueco pledged the party's mobilisation in every neighbourhood and village across the region's nine provinces. Much of Feijóo's speech was aimed at Sánchez, with the Barcelona violence used as the opening point for wider criticism of the government. He closed the section by repeating his description of the protesters as 'the disciples of the wall'.

“The disciples of the wall do not want peace in the streets.”