Night of riots in Mataró: four minors arrested for confrontations with fire with the police
The tension began Tuesday morning with the eviction of a family with four children and the arrest of three more young people
BarcelonaNight of riots in Mataró. The Mossos d'Esquadra had already reinforced their uniformed presence in the Cerdanyola neighborhood of the capital of Maresme after an eviction this Tuesday ended with three minors arrested for throwing blunt objects, such as paving stones, at the police line. These actions against the police, however, were repeated at night, according to Mossos sources. A group of young people burned about ten containers and threw stones and incendiary devices at the police. In total, the Mossos made five arrests, four of them minors.
The young people were arrested for public disorder and the only adult for a crime of attacking law enforcement officers. The Mossos deployed units of the mobile brigade and the ARRO to restore public order and, for their part, the Generalitat Firefighters carried out nine services to extinguish containers and a scrub fire in Can Boada Park, where 70 square meters of vegetation burned. The firefighters carried out their operations between 9:19 PM and 00:17 AM.
The eviction on Tuesday morning was carried out against a family with four minors and ignited the neighborhood's spark. Five Mossos agents were injured facing a group of about fifty people who threw stones and glass bottles at the police line.
The mayor of Mataró, David Bote, stated that security in the Cerdanyola neighborhood will be reinforced to prevent riots like those recorded in the last 24 hours, which ended with destruction and eight arrests. The events were triggered by an eviction on Tuesday morning that led to confrontations with the Mossos d'Esquadra. In a media briefing, Bote assured that he understands the neighbors' concern, but that "violence has no justification," and appealed for a reflection on these attitudes among young people involved in social struggles.
The local Housing Union lamented the mayor's "criminalizing" attitude and that the housing crisis in this area of the city is not being addressed.
The precedent from a year ago
In fact, a year ago there were already several nights of riots in the same neighborhood of Mataró, then motivated by an attempted occupation frustrated by the Catalan police. It was also very young people, mostly minors, who confronted the police. Then, in conversation with ARA, some of these young people denounced the lack of opportunities in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Maresme. They focused on housing and told stories of friends' parents who are squatting, or who had to leave the neighborhood because the rent price was raised. They also denounced "massive identifications" by the police "for no reason".
