Anti-establishment demonstrations erupted into violence across France and Spain on Saturday, as protesters clashed with police, looted shops and damaged public property, leading to roughly 1,100 arrests — nearly 1,000 in France and 100 in Barcelona.
In the Catalan capital, hooded demonstrators set fire to street furniture and ransacked stores around the central Plaza de Catalunya, an area popular with tourists and weekend shoppers. Catalonia’s interior minister, Núria Parlon, said more than 30 fires were set and 14 shops were vandalised or looted, with around a quarter of those arrested being minors. Videos shared online showed people trapped inside shops, including the El Corte Ingles department store, after shutters were lowered to keep looters out, while other footage captured hooded figures dressed in black smashing windows and taking goods, at times encouraged by people watching online. The unrest was promoted on social media as a movement “against the system,” using the slogan “Institut Indignats” — a rendering of “Lycées Indignés,” the name adopted by French students protesting in recent weeks.
Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni warned that the acts of vandalism “will not go unpunished,” adding that guardians of minors involved could face legal consequences.
In France, demonstrations against rising living costs and school funding drew hundreds of thousands of people in Paris and several other cities, in what organisers described as “Acte II,” a second round of protests following a week of unrest marked by widespread looting and damage to public buildings. The interior ministry estimated turnout at 410,000 nationwide, including 110,000 in Paris — lower than the 550,000 it counted the previous weekend — while the CGT union, which helped organise the marches, put the figures at nearly 800,000 nationally and 250,000 in the capital.
The main Paris march began peacefully but descended into clashes near its endpoint in the east of the city, where masked protesters threw objects and fireworks at police. Officers responded with tear gas, sound grenades and water cannon, and charged at groups of demonstrators with batons as the crowd dispersed. Tear gas was also used in Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Montpellier and Nantes. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez had warned earlier in the day, “We will not tolerate any violence or any disturbance of public order.” Some 70,000 security personnel were deployed across France, where the previous weekend’s unrest had left hundreds of shops looted and resulted in 2,700 arrests.
Although the violence appeared to ease as night fell, clashes continued in several places. Authorities had restricted the Paris march to the city’s southeastern edge, away from the centre, and businesses — including luxury boutiques — boarded up windows and brought in extra security. The Louvre, Musée d’Orsay and Picasso Museum closed, while the football match between Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique Lyonnais was postponed. The unrest comes six months before elections to choose a successor to President Emmanuel Macron, who is serving the final months of his term. While French demonstrators focused on living costs and school funding, the Barcelona rally was framed as a broader challenge to the establishment.
Original Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/protests-sweep-france-spain-as-masked-mobs-loot-shops-clash-with-cops-1100-held/articleshow/135180010.cms
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Publish Date: 2026-10-25 05:01:00
