Why are minors burning containers on the streets of Mataró?

MataróAt first, the sudden image. A group of young people—some of them children—are standing in the street chatting. They range in age from thirteen to eighteen, and they're teasing each other, joking, and smacking each other in a friendly manner. Across the sidewalk, there are two public order vans belonging to the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police). They're part of the reinforcement operation deployed in the Cerdanyola neighborhood of Mataró. for the riots of the last few days. There were incidents on Wednesday and Thursday of last week, but also this Monday and Tuesday. Some of these young people claim they are the ones who set fire to a container and threw eggs at the police. One fourteen-year-old even claims he ended up arrested on Tuesday night. Why do they do this?

The older youth denounce a lack of opportunities in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Maresme. They focus on housing and tell stories of friends' parents squatting, or who have had to leave the neighborhood because their rent went up. They also denounce "mass identification" by the police "just because." Most were born in Catalonia, but are children of immigrant families. "They're abusing us," says a fourteen-year-old boy. This outrage has translated into four nights of isolated incidents.

Now, while there is outrage, there is also a motivation, admitted by the young people themselves, that also weighs heavily: fun. "They're young and sometimes they don't know what to do," says one of the older ones in a cautionary tone, and confirms shortly after that he doesn't burn containers. "I put alcohol in it and it lights up," responds one of the younger ones shortly after, seeking some approval within the group.

The situation in the Cerdanyola neighborhood is complex. Last Wednesday, the arrest of a man of foreign origin while trying to occupy an apartment lit a spark that, so far, has scorched twenty containers, three vehicles, and resulted in nine arrests, a situation similar to that experienced a month ago in Salt. Five of those arrested are minors, and this Tuesday, during the latest night of riots—in which three containers were burned—the police were planning to arrest another boy, who was eventually handed over to his parents because he was under fourteen and therefore not criminally responsible.

This initial unemployment sparked a mobilization by the Mataró Housing Union. One of its spokespersons, Manay Pérez, denounces that many apartments in the neighborhood are "in the hands of banks and vulture funds." The housing problem is confirmed by several residents, such as a bakery worker who admits that if she weren't in a social housing unit, she wouldn't know what to do.

Criticism on the far right

The union has disassociated the riots from their campaign, and Mossos d'Esquadra sources also confirm that the youths burning containers are not housing activists. "Outside, they have no idea what's going on here," says one young man. Others are more carried away by inertia. This was stated this Wednesday by the superintendent of the Mossos d'Esquadra headquarters, Toni Rodríguez. The union also denounces the increased police presence as a "provocation." "It's surreal, reminiscent of the curfew," says one of its spokespersons. Rodríguez, specifically, said that there is a "crust of systemic problems."

The neighborhood

Cerdanyola is a working-class neighborhood in Mataró, with immigration present on the streets and in the social fabric, with many businesses run by migrants. As always, this generates all kinds of opinions. There are older people, like Catalina, 76, who says she's afraid to go out and that the neighborhood has deteriorated. There are middle-aged workers who criticize young migrants who don't work. And there are veteran migrants, like Mohammed, who has been in the neighborhood for forty years, who maintains that coexistence works. A neighbor I was speaking to at the time confirms this. She does admit, however, that she often hears comments like: "Moroccans are always to blame." What's happening now, they admit they've never seen before.

For her part, the Minister of the Interior, Núria Parlon, maintained that the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) are working "to pacify" the situation and restore "public order" in the Cerdanyola neighborhood of Mataró. Parlon stated that the arrests of four minors "are appropriate." Once the situation on the streets has "normalized," the Minister stated that a "careful analysis" will be necessary to determine "what is behind it and what is the source" of these "inappropriate" behaviors.