"We will be inside the shop just in case": Barcelona's businesses shield themselves against the threat of Blocus

BarcelonaBarcelona is preparing for a very uncertain All Saints' Eve. While some shopkeepers are still recovering from Saturday's damages, the city is already shielding itself against the threat of another Blocus call. This Friday morning on Passeig de Gràcia, some shop windows could already be seen completely boarded up with wooden panels, and others with workers busy protecting them. Similar scenes were also being repeated in other parts of the city, such as Plaça Francesc Macià.

The reason for the precaution is that the phantom platform Blocus, which spreads information through messaging groups and social networks, could repeat looting with a new call for this Saturday at 5 p.m. This time, however, the call will not have the surprise effect of a level of violence that overwhelmed last week's security arrangements. Both the Mossos d'Esquadra and the shopkeepers were finalizing their preparations this Friday in the face of the risk of new disturbances.

At Plaça Catalunya, the epicenter of last week's events and the meeting place for the new call, major brands such as Zara or Urban Outfitters were also being protected this Friday. At the same time, municipal workers have already begun to remove objects from street furniture that could be used as weapons, for example the stakes that support trees.

"Everyone is warned and it is clear that tomorrow could be a complicated day," explains Lluís Sans, president of the Passeig de Gràcia Association, to ARA, who assures that some shops plan to open, but others will leave their shutters down. "They are not young people protesting, they are organized thieves," he remarks, and admits that everything surrounding the call is an unknown and that, therefore, it is not possible to know if it "will come to nothing" or if it could be a new outbreak of violence.

Merchants are moving between necessary prevention and attempts not to generate extraordinary alarm that might scare off customers during an important weekend for sales. In statements to the ACN, the president of Barcelona Oberta, Gabriel Jené, said that he foresees "absolute normality" in the city center shops this Saturday and trusts in the "maximum" police deployment to face the day. "We cannot give the message that the city stops for anything," he insisted, and opined that "the great triumph" would be precisely for the commercial day to unfold with normality.

All Saints' Day and the florists

The flower shops on the Rambla –now temporarily installed next to Plaça Catalunya– are some of the businesses most affected. On their calendar, the eve of All Saints' Day is one of the key dates for selling flowers, but this year the campaign has a more bitter taste. "We are very afraid," says Mercè Pallés, manager of the Carolina flower shop. Pallés is the fourth generation to run this shop in one of the little houses on the Rambla de Catalunya, "the oldest one," she says proudly. The stall, with glass on all four walls, still bears the mark of the blow it received last weekend, which is why Pallés will not be opening this Saturday afternoon.

The florist acknowledges the cost it will mean for her, but prefers to stay "at peace." A few stalls down is Flors Raquel, which suffered the worst of it last Saturday, because people broke in to rob her and destroy her merchandise. Raquel Martin is the owner, and she also has no plans to open. She still feels "shaken," she explains while her windows are being replaced. At this time of year, flowers are more expensive, she says: the scare has caused her a "great expense." "I won't be able to recover it, but it's better to be cautious," laments Martin.

Also at the Laguarda jewelry store on the Rambla, they are preparing for another tense day. "On Saturday afternoon we will be inside the shop just in case," states Joaquim Laguarda. It has been more than a century since his great-grandfather opened the jewelry store. A hundred years in which, he and his father explain in conversation with ARA, the family had never experienced anything like what happened a week ago, when groups of young people sowed chaos in the center of Barcelona with riots and looting. Their jewelry store was one of the businesses that came out the worst.

His father –also named Joaquim, like his grandfather and great-grandfather– thinks that this time the situation will not be as critical because he senses that the police will be better prepared and the center will be armored. However, a glance at the store makes it clear that all possible precautions have been taken. The counter and the display cases are practically empty. "We have put everything inside the safe just in case," explains the son. The damage caused by the assailants is still perfectly visible, especially the havoc on the bulletproof glass that, despite everything, managed to withstand the onslaught. "One more minute and they would have managed to get inside," assures Laguarda.

In the case of the jewelers, they regret that back in the day, the Barcelona City Council did not let them install an armored door due to an issue of urban landscape. To prevent graffiti from being painted on it, they had to install a gate door, which they emphasize offers less security. Now they want to reopen that debate, and they trust that the council of the Catalan capital will authorize them to change the door.

Protection also at Francesc Macià

Prevention measures are not limited only to the center. The commercial area around Francesc Macià, in Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, could be another of the hot spots if the new protest follows the pattern of looting of youth clothing or other valuable products such as cosmetics or electronic devices. That is why companies like Sephora or MediaMarkt were already installing panels on their shop windows on Friday, hours before the call.