Police arrested over 1 400 people during violent protests across Europe this weekend, with France and Spain reporting widespread vandalism and clashes between demonstrators and officers.
French authorities arrested 1 314 people during weekend protests across the country, the interior ministry said on Sunday. Fifty-three officers suffered injuries in clashes.
Violence broke out on the edges of mass demonstrations in major cities on Saturday as people protested against the high cost of living.
France faces second weekend of unrest
France experienced its second weekend of unrest in a row as the country heads towards presidential elections in April and May. Voters will choose a successor to Emmanuel Macron, who cannot seek re-election after reaching his two-term limit.
Police responded to 75 fires during Saturday’s protests, the interior ministry said. Looters ransacked 24 shops.
“Several investigations have been opened,” the ministry said in a statement, without giving details. It added that Saturday night remained “calm” after the clashes ended.
The ministry did not say how many protesters suffered injuries.
Late on Saturday, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez spoke of two serious injuries among protesters: one in Toulouse and one in Clermont-Ferrand.
The Toulouse prefecture told AFP that a 20-year-old man suffered a serious wound to his hand.
A street medic who treated demonstrators told AFP, on condition of anonymity, that the man lost “several fingers” from his right hand.
The prefecture covering Clermont-Ferrand said a man there also injured his hand but did not lose any fingers.
French regional daily La Nouvelle Republique reported that a man in Poitiers suffered an injury to his left eye, publishing a photo of a man holding his face.
The newspaper’s photographer told AFP the injured person was a 19-year-old. Riot police wounded him during a charge while firing stun grenades and tear gas.
Several people have suffered serious injuries in recent weeks during student protests in France. Police stun grenades and tear gas grenades caused the wounds.
Officials could not confirm if the injuries from Saturday came from those police weapons. Authorities opened investigations in at least some of the cases.
Barcelona arrests 128 in overnight violence
Police made 128 arrests overnight in Barcelona for acts of vandalism, damage to public property and looting, the regional Catalan police said on Sunday.
Seventy-three of those arrested were minors. Authorities will send the reports “to the juvenile prosecutor’s office”, Catalan police chief Silvia Cata told Spain’s 3CatInfo media outlet.
Footage on social media showed groups of young people, many dressed in all-black, attacking businesses in Barcelona after gathering in the city centre for a rally that authorities had not approved.
Cata said only two of the 128 people detained in Barcelona had prior criminal records. Fifteen officers suffered injuries during the night.
“This is gratuitous violence,” the police chief said, noting that vandals damaged 23 premises.
While the movement was “completely disorganised”, the call to rally had spread “on social media”, Cata added.
Police were attempting to “study the profile” of those in custody, she said.
European leaders condemn violence
“Violence has no place in Catalonia. Ever,” Catalonia’s regional president, Salvador Illa, posted to X, demanding that the rioters “pay” for their actions.
Spain now heads into a campaign for a 29 November general election. The leader of the right-wing opposition, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, called for “a change” for Spain “that emerges from the ballot box, with freedom and respect”.
“Coexistence requires responsibility, not enabling those who endanger it,” he added.
Countries across Europe have been dealing with unrest, with France, Italy and Albania all seeing protests turn into incidents of looting and violence.
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