Riots at the UAB due to the presence of far-right activist Vito Quiles

BellaterraFar from where he wanted to be, half-hidden, and pressured to leave. This is how agitator Vito Quiles attempted to hold an event this Thursday at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), for which the school had warned him he was not authorized. The pro-Spanish group Se ha Acabado (It's Over), close to Vox, had announced an event at 12 noon in the Plaza Cívica—the epicenter of the campus—but for quite some time before, hundreds of anti-fascist protesters had filled the surrounding area to try to prevent the agitator from appearing. Likewise, a few dozen young people in favor of Quiles, with Spanish and Carlist flags, were positioned next to the Communications Library, a few meters from the large UAB plaza. However, Quiles did not appear where he had announced, but in the parking lot next to the rectorate, far from the plaza that is the epicenter of university activity.

The tense situation ended with clashes. With anti-fascists shouting "fascists out of the university" and "long live the struggle of the working class," there were clashes between Quiles's opponents and supporters, who exchanged objects. In this context, those in favor of Quiles had to retreat. It was then that the Mossos d'Espanyol (Catalan police) intervened for the first time and, after a few charges, separated the two groups. The Espanyol supporters shouted slogans such as "Christian Spain, not Muslim Spain" and "Pedro Sánchez, son of a bitch." Later, tensions shifted to the FGC station, where a protester gave a Nazi salute.

The objective of the event, as Quiles announced in a message to X at the beginning of October, was to "champion freedom where it is most threatened." It was to be the start of a tour that the far-right agitator plans to undertake through several universities in the state. emulating Charlie Kirk's actions in the USHours before the event, the UAB stated that it had not received any requests to reserve a space for this talk. For its part, Se Acaba stated that it had requested to reserve a classroom, but that "coincidentally, everything was occupied." In a formal communication to which ARA has had access, the institution asked him to prove whether he had the corresponding authorization. Since it received no response, when the rectorate learned that he was at the university, it went to the parking lot where Quiles was and urged him to leave, in addition to requesting police presence.

In a subsequent statement, the UAB denounced the "instrumentalization" of the campus by the far-right activist and asserted that the situation involved a "long and intense negotiation process" to "avoid creating a public order problem." Finally, after two hours in the vicinity of the university, the agitator left the UAB.

Who is Vito Quiles?

Although he graduated in journalism from the Complutense University of Madrid, the Association of Parliamentary Journalists (APP) of Congress requested that Quiles' accreditation in the Lower House be withdrawn due to his links with Alvise Pérez's party, Se acaba la Fiesta (The Party's Over). Quiles, born in 2000 in Elche, gained popularity during the pandemic as a result of his appearances on State of alarm, a YouTube channel promoted by Javier Negre, former deputy director of'The World, which has now become a platform that amplifies the theses and agenda of the far right.

Members ofState of alarm They have had several clashes with left-wing and pro-independence deputies in the press room of Congress, as well as with some journalists. In fact, media workers with very diverse editorial views They have expressed discomfort with the presence of Quiles and Negre at the press conferences in the lower house.. Following these incidents, Congress established sanctions in September to prosecute harassing behavior in the Spanish chamber.

Beyond the press room and the surroundings of Congress, in recent years Quiles has made a habit of following politicians, journalists, and media contributors, especially those from TVE. The agitator will seek them out at the door of an establishment where he knows they are from, or at an event they plan to attend, and once there, he pesters them with simple questions that seek direct confrontation. On social media, he shares these videos, and if someone stands up to him or reproaches him for his behavior, he highlights the "violence" of the interviewees.