Spanish authorities ask WhatsApp and Telegram to close conversations

Athe Spanish authorities today stressed that the riots and looting in Barcelona on Saturday were “pure vandalism” unrelated to any protest and appealed to WhatsApp and Telegram to close ‘chats’ in which new summons are being made.

“ What we saw in Barcelona this weekend is not an act of democracy, it is pure vandalism instigated from [social] networks,” said Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, in a message released on the X.

The government leader stressed that there is “an ongoing investigation” and that 128 people arrested “will respond to justice”, promising “zero tolerance with violent and full support for [security] agents and traders”.

The regional government, in turn, said that new calls are being made for similar actions for next Saturday in Barcelona and asked WhastsApp and Telegram to block the accounts in which these messages are being shared that encourage young people “to sow chaos.”.

In statements today to journalists, the head of the Internal Administration in the regional government, Nuria Parlon, stressed that what happened on Saturday in Barcelona was organized on digital platforms, especially TikTok, for accounts with “ camouflaged identities” that referred to message groups at WhastApp and Telegram. In these ‘chats’, there were precise indications of how to get to the center of Barcelona, how to act or what to wear (black and covered face).

Some 500 young people responded to this call and 130 were arrested following riots, destruction of urban furniture, confrontation with police and looting near 30 shops, authorities said.

Most of the detainees (74) are minors and the Public Prosecutors today asked that six of them be admitted to institutions protected by justice.

Nuria Parlon stressed today that young people had “no other purpose” except to generate chaos or to make robberies, without any movement of protest or protest.

The Catalan ruler said that the police will ask WhatsApp and Telegram to help identify the people behind the ‘chats’ and other groups and close these accounts.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares, for his part, said that “digital platforms have a very important responsibility in moderation” and that “electoral moments are moments of special fragility within each country”, giving as an example interference in Romania and Germany.

Albares said, in response to a journalist's questions, that at the moment it is not known whether there was any Russian interference at the time in Barcelona, but that there is an ongoing invetsigation.

Spain will have early elections on 29 November and the event in Barcelona immediately entered the pre-campaign.

The right and the far right are accusing the government, a left-wing coalition led by the socialists, of burning the streets in Spain with “negligence and passivity” with which it responds to protests and disturbances or even allowing them.

On the other hand, the left condemns these statements, which it considers to be intended to confuse reprehensible and unacceptable disturbances with other non-violent demonstrations, such as housing, and to criminalise the peaceful protests that are taking place in Spain.

For left-wing parties, disturbances like those in Barcelona benefit the far right.

According to the Spanish authorities, behind the disturbances in Barcelona is a group without identified authors acting under the word or label “Blocus”, and allegedly in the name of “school quality”, a motto and terminology inspired by the movement that has been mobilizing protests in France for weeks.

Calls similar to Barcelona have also been made in recent weeks in other European countries, such as Italy, Belgium or the Netherlands, according to Catalan police.