Deterrent measures against riots

BarcelonaThis Monday it became known that only two of the 79 minors arrested for the riots on October 24th will not face any precautionary measures. Five have been institutionalized and the vast majority, 72, have been placed under a probation regime. Now the justice system will begin its process so that in some cases those responsible for the minors, whether parents or guardians, may be fined due to the damages caused to public furniture. This action demonstrates that the immediate objective is to dissuade the youngest from participating in protests of this type, organized by someone not yet clearly known nor for what objective, but which led to scenes of looting and urban violence that have caused understandable public alarm.

The trickle of arrests of alleged organizers of this viral phenomenon dubbed Blocus, which has an evident component of imitation of the youth protests in France, has also had its impact. In the same way as the extensive police deployment on Saturday in Barcelona and other cities that prevented the repetition of the riots. However, beyond these actions, absolutely necessary to nip this phenomenon in the bud, there are still many unknowns that must be investigated. Basically because it is not a specifically Catalan or Spanish phenomenon, since similar calls have been produced in other European cities, especially French ones, but also Italian, German, or Portuguese ones. Beyond confirming that the unrest of a part of the young population is very real, it is not redundant to investigate whether there is any foreign interference or unconfessable political interests behind these events. As numerous security experts state, hybrid warfare takes many forms today and the final goal is to destabilize liberal democracies. Therefore, this threat cannot be underestimated.

Aside from this, the investigation must also continue because the disturbances can recur on any occasion, and it is not foreseeable that a police operation like Saturday's will be repeated every weekend. The general strike day scheduled for the 11th could be the perfect setting for images of urban violence to be repeated, and the security forces, as well as the union organizers themselves, must be prepared to deal with it.

Beyond these warnings, a deep reflection must be made on what is the fuel that feeds these behaviors. It has been said that there is no concrete ideological component and that it is a nihilistic behavior or rather one of pure fun, adrenaline-fueled and with the ultimate intention of obtaining some latest fashion product for free. The Mossos are the ones who will have to trace, in the first place, the profile of both the organizers and the participants, and make each person pay for the crimes they have committed, but then we should ask ourselves as a society what we are doing wrong and where this youth rage against the established order comes from, in the final instance.