Blocus movement founder held without bail as Halloween looting calls spread in Spain

Founder held in Valencia

Guardia Civil officers arrested a man in Picanya, Valencia, on Friday, 30 October. The force describes him as the 'fundador y principal impulsor' of Blocus in Spain. A judge on duty in Torrent then ordered him held in provisional prison without bail. He is under investigation for criminal organisation, incitement to public disorder, robbery with force in shops and damage, and that classification may still change. Reports give his age as 25 in one case and 20 in another. The Guardia Civil said he aimed to direct looting in real time in shops across several cities on 31 October. El Periódico describes him as the brain behind the disturbances in Barcelona on 24 October, which involved more than 500 teenagers and young adults.

Barcelona and Bilbao

A gathering called through Blocus on 24 October in Barcelona ended in looting, burning of bins and smashed shop windows. El Periódico tallied 23 establishments looted and 128 people detained, and RTVE reports that 72 of those detained were minors. The posters circulating online cited a 'dignified future', housing and wages without giving further detail. Two days later, in Bilbao, similar scenes followed, with 19 arrests, seven of them adolescents. Sources do not establish whether the two events are linked. The Bilbao protest came after an event in that city by the agitator Vito Quiles was cancelled.

Minors and online recruitment

Students aged 14 to 16 at two institutes in Les Franqueses del Vallès told El Periódico that invitations reached them through TikTok, WhatsApp and Telegram, often passed from one group of friends to another. El Periódico also reports that some Telegram channels openly urged people to loot, and that several of those channels were later deleted. In Valencia, a 17-year-old with a police record was arrested on Wednesday, 28 October. The prosecutor's office for minors ordered his placement in a specialised centre as a precautionary measure. Police say an 18-year-old arrested in Alfafar on Friday, 30 October, showed followers how to make Molotov cocktails and how to behave during looting. He was brought before the court in Catarroja on 31 October.

Palma and Halloween security

In Palma, National Police identified and fined six minors on Friday, 30 October, after finding corrosive material, aluminium foil and a simulated weapon during searches. A protest had been called through an Instagram profile for 19:30 at Plaza de España, but no demonstration took place there. Only onlookers, journalists, officers and a housing assembly were present. In Valencia, the city council and the government delegation met in a Junta de Seguridad and agreed on a strong police deployment. The city's mayor called the threat real. Shops in the centre of Valencia boarded their windows with wooden and metal panels. Shops in Madrid and Barcelona did the same, and Barcelona was expected to see the most disturbances. Police increased monitoring of social media and set up special devices, including regional and local forces.