BARCELONA — A total of 100 people were arrested in Barcelona on Saturday evening after hooded demonstrators who had taken part in an anti-establishment rally looted shops and set fire to street furniture around the city's central Plaza de Catalunya, Reuters reported.

Source: Reuters

Núria Parlon, the interior minister for the Spanish region of Catalonia, said around 25% of those arrested were minors. More than 30 fires were set and 14 stores were vandalised or looted in a part of the city popular with tourists and weekend shoppers, she added, according to Reuters.

100people arrested in Barcelona on Saturday evening — Reuters
14stores vandalised or looted around Plaza de Catalunya
30+fires set, according to Catalonia interior minister Núria Parlon

The demonstrators had been called out in social media posts to a movement "against the system". The posts also used the slogan "Institut Indignats" — in English, "Indignant High School Students" — a translation of the "Lycées Indignés" movement used to rally students who have protested in France in recent weeks, Reuters said.

Social media videos showed people trapped inside shops, including the El Corte Inglés department store, after shutters were lowered to prevent looting, and hooded demonstrators dressed in black kicking in shop windows and making off with goods, in some cases encouraged by online viewers, Reuters reported.

An independent report by Newsy Today, describing a social media-driven protest of roughly 600 youths in central Barcelona on Saturday, also reported the looting of 14 commercial establishments, the burning of urban furniture and approximately 100 arrests after clashes with law enforcement.

Source: Newsy Today

Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni said acts of vandalism in the city "will not go unpunished", including legal consequences for the guardians of any minors involved, Reuters reported. Reuters did not report any deaths in its initial report on the unrest.