Several Spanish cities are preparing special police deployments in anticipation of possible disturbances linked to calls disseminated on social media under the name Blocus. In Barcelona, Valencia, Madrid, and Bilbao, numerous businesses have begun to protect their shop windows due to fears of a repeat of the looting and destruction recorded last Saturday in the Catalan capital.
The measures come on the eve of Saturday, October 31, coinciding with Halloween, after calls to gather at different points across the country circulated online. Authorities are monitoring these calls, although their locations and times may change, and some of the information disseminated on social media is false or has not been confirmed.
As of this Friday, security forces have arrested ten people in different operations related to Blocus channels and calls, according to the balance reported by the police and collected by EFE. Among them is a 20-year-old man arrested in Picanya, Valencia, whom the Civil Guard considers one of the main promoters of these groups in Spain.
Concern has increased after the disturbances on October 24 in Barcelona, where groups of young people looted businesses, erected barricades, and caused fires following a call disseminated on social media. Police reports were updated in the following days and placed the number of detainees at around 130, a significant portion of whom were minors.
Reinforcements in Barcelona, Valencia, Madrid, and Bilbao
In Barcelona, the Mossos d'Esquadra are preparing a reinforced deployment in response to several calls detected for Saturday. The Catalan police have located calls in different parts of the city and in other municipalities, although they warn that not all of them have a fixed location and time.
This Friday, businesses on Paseo de Gràcia, Plaça de Catalunya, Portal de l'Àngel, and other commercial areas have installed panels to protect doors and shop windows. The City Council has also suspended the usual Saturday traffic cut on some commercial streets to facilitate, if necessary, the passage of emergency vehicles.
In Valencia, the City Council has announced that it will double the Local Police deployment initially planned for Halloween. Containers and part of the urban furniture in the center will also be removed at the request of the National Police, as explained by the mayor, María José Catalá.
The Valencian capital has another different event scheduled for Saturday, organized by associations of victims and those affected by the 2024 DANA. The march for the second anniversary of the tragedy is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. and will demand memory, justice, and accountability for the management of the emergency. This demonstration and the calls disseminated under the Blocus tag respond to different convocations.
In Madrid, the National Police and the Municipal Police maintain the planned deployment for the weekend in anticipation of possible concentrations in the center, despite messages circulating on social media about a supposed cancellation. Some establishments have installed protections, and merchant associations remain in contact with the authorities.
The Ertzaintza will reinforce police stations in the three Basque capitals, with special attention to Bilbao, where commercial facades have also been protected. The Department of Security is following the calls disseminated for Saturday after the incidents recorded this week in the Deusto neighborhood of Bilbao.
In Andalusia, the National Police has arrested a young man in Malaga whom they accuse of making calls to loot businesses in the capital, Fuengirola, and Marbella. In Seville, some businesses have protected their shop windows, and surveillance has been reinforced. The Government Subdelegation has called for calm and stated that there is no concrete threat of particular seriousness in the city.
What is Blocus and how are the calls disseminated?
The word blocus means "blockade" in French and has been used in France in youth mobilizations that include blockades of educational centers. In Spain, different anonymous accounts have used this tag to disseminate calls that have reached mainly young people through social networks and messaging applications.
According to the Civil Guard's investigation, some accounts disseminated videos and posters on TikTok, sometimes with QR codes that directed to WhatsApp or Telegram groups. From there, some of those interested were incorporated into private channels. The Ministry of Interior maintains that some calls were presented with references to student protests or social demands, but that in those groups, looting and violent acts were allegedly promoted.
The Mossos describe Blocus as a new phenomenon without a defined ideology. The existence of accounts and channels that share a tag does not by itself prove that all people participating in them are part of a single organization; investigations try to determine who administered them and what role each detainee played.
Among the ten arrests reported this Friday are three in the province of Valencia, two in Barcelona, two in Tenerife, and one in Lleida, Bilbao, and Málaga. Four of the detainees are minors. The operations have been carried out by the National Police, the Civil Guard, and the Mossos d'Esquadra.
To the young man arrested in Picanya, who had presented himself on social media as the leader of Blocus in Spain, the Civil Guard attributes the creation and administration of Telegram groups from which actions were allegedly coordinated. The events are being investigated as possible crimes of aggravated public disorder and criminal organization, pending the classification resulting from the investigation.
Authorities have also warned about the circulation of fake audios, images, and messages that exaggerate or attribute calls to police sources. The Police recommend consulting official channels before sharing alerts and avoiding spreading information whose origin has not been verified.
