A housing demonstration in Barcelona ended in unrest on Monday night, with burning barricades and clashes between groups of protesters and police.
Catalan police arrested 13 people, including a minor, and reported that 30 officers sustained minor injuries, according to Euronews. The number of injured demonstrators remained unclear.
The march was largely peaceful until it ended. Disturbances subsequently spread through central areas, including around Plaça Catalunya and La Rambla, where rubbish bins and other materials were set alight.
The protest reflected mounting anger over housing affordability. Demonstrators called for stronger tenant protections and action against property speculation following parliament’s rejection of emergency housing measures.
The tenants’ union Sindicat de Llogateres, which helped organise the mobilisation, sought to build support for broader protests and a general strike over housing.
According to reporting carried by AOL, groups wearing face coverings threw stones and bottles at officers and constructed barricades from bins, bicycles and construction materials. Firefighters intervened as police recorded 22 fires and 28 barricades.
The unrest came amid growing political tension over Spain’s housing crisis, with affordable housing becoming a central issue ahead of the announced November election.
