Barcelona riots: 100 arrests after youths loot shops and trap customers

Nearly 600 young people gathered in central Barcelona on Saturday following a social media call, sparking riots that led to looting, barricades, and clashes with Catalan police, resulting in about 100 arrests. The demonstrators, rallying under the slogan "Lycées indignés" in echo of French student protests, targeted shops and set fire to urban furniture. Fourteen businesses were vandalized, trapping hundreds of customers inside as stores hastily closed. Police deployed anti-riot units and temporarily shut a nearby station. Catalan Interior Minister Núria Parlon and Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni condemned the "gratuitous violence and acts of vandalism," stating the unrest was unrelated to the ongoing housing rights camp on the same square.