Barcelona and Madrid became battlegrounds Wednesday night as hooded rioters unleashed chaos across Spain’s two largest cities, capping off a day of mass protests over the country’s spiraling housing crisis and stagnant wages. At least 56 arrests were made and over 45 police officers injured in the worst urban violence Spain has seen in years.
Strike Day Ends in Flames
What began as a largely peaceful general strike — the first in 14 years — turned violent after dark as anarchist groups hijacked the protests. In Barcelona, rioters clad in black smashed storefronts along the upscale Passeig de Grà cia, including an Apple Store whose entrance was set ablaze. A nearby Lego shop was reduced to rubble. Tourists fled as fireworks rained down on Catalan police, who responded with rubber bullets.
“They weren’t protesting — they were reenacting the 2019 riots,” a Barcelona shopkeeper told local media, referencing the separatist upheaval that paralyzed Catalonia. Social media footage showed militants posing triumphantly beside burning barricades.
Political Powder Keg
The unrest strikes just weeks before snap elections called by Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, whose left-wing coalition tacitly endorsed the strike. Opposition parties slammed the government for enabling what far-right Vox party called “a taxpayer-funded circus.” Center-right PP leaders accused Sánchez of stoking unrest for electoral gain.
Union participation figures told a conflicting story: while organizers claimed massive turnout, power grid data showed just a 3.9% drop in electricity usage — far below the 13.5% plunge during Spain’s 2012 austerity protests. Industrial power use fell 25%, missing the 80-90% drops seen in past walkouts.
Madrid Erupts
Similar scenes played out in the capital, where rioters torched dumpsters and pelted police with projectiles. Nine officers were injured before authorities regained control using pepper spray and rubber bullets. At least 24 total arrests were made in Madrid, including 20 earlier in the day for attacking police.
As dawn broke Thursday, politicians traded blame while shopkeepers surveyed the damage. With Sánchez remaining silent, analysts warn the violence could reshape Spain’s election — or spark further unrest in a nation already on edge.
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2026/11/12/watch-violent-riots-in-barcelona-and-madrid-after-day-of-general-strike/