Spanish police carried out extensive Halloween security operations in several cities on 31 October, but the widespread rioting predicted in some online messages did not materialise. Barcelona recorded more than 1,400 identity checks and three arrests, while Madrid reported no significant disturbances.
The deployments followed serious violence in Barcelona a week earlier and new gathering calls circulated under the name Blocus. Police also reported limited confrontation in Palma on Friday 30 October, and separate criminal investigations into people accused of encouraging violence online.
What happened in Barcelona on 31 October?
Mossos d’Esquadra and Barcelona’s Guàrdia Urbana deployed hundreds of officers across the city centre and transport approaches after social media accounts advertised further gatherings.
According to the Mossos police figures reported by Europa Press on 1 November, officers identified 1,440 people, made three arrests and issued 127 administrative reports involving confiscated objects or substances. Police said there were no riots during the operation.
Two of the arrested adults were wanted under existing warrants. The third person, a minor, was arrested on suspicion of resisting and disobeying police. The three arrests therefore cannot be presented as three arrests for Halloween rioting.
Separately, a 21-year-old was detained in Cabrera d’Anoia in connection with the investigation into the previous weekend’s disturbances. That was a separate case, not a fourth arrest during a fresh riot in central Barcelona.
On the ground: Barcelona, 31 October
Video: BCNLegends Noticias, filmed in central Barcelona on 31 October 2026, showing police checks and protected shops. The publisher describes these as its own recordings. This footage shows the security operation, not widespread riots.
Valencia and Madrid: major precautions, limited disruption
In Valencia, police protected central commercial areas around the Plaza de Toros and Estación del Norte, while some businesses closed early or secured their windows. Local reporting recorded 22 arrests in the wider Halloween policing operation, involving different alleged offences. Authorities did not say that all 22 arrests were connected to Blocus.
elDiario.es reported that the operation involved more than 500 identity checks across the relevant police deployments and that no damage to city-centre shops was recorded during the anticipated gathering.
In Madrid, major shopping streets also saw preventive policing and protective measures. Europa Press reported on Saturday night that the advertised gathering had passed without significant incidents.
Palma: confrontation on Friday, quiet on Saturday
Palma, Mallorca, saw the clearest reported confrontation within the 30 October to 1 November reporting period. On Friday evening, groups gathering around Plaça d’Espanya clashed verbally and physically with people connected to an ongoing housing protest encampment. Police intervened to separate those involved.
The EFE news agency reported 200 identity checks, 40 administrative reports and nine minors described as arrested. However, Europa Press’s account of the police statement says nine minors were taken to police premises and subsequently handed over to their parents. Their precise formal custody status is not clear from the differing accounts.
Local reporters also described racist insults and the presence of people identified as sympathisers of the far-right group Núcleo Nacional. These accounts require care: the evidence does not establish that everyone present was acting for Blocus, or that all the confrontations involved the same groups. elDiario.es published eyewitness reporting about these allegations. The precise circumstances of any assault or injury have not been independently established.
A second advertised Palma gathering on Saturday did not develop into significant unrest. Police figures reported on Sunday recorded 112 identity checks, 23 administrative reports and one minor handed back to their parents following police intervention.
Why were police expecting trouble?
The heightened precautions followed serious disorder in Barcelona on Saturday 24 October. Around 500 to 600 people assembled after online calls, and disturbances included shop damage, fires and confrontations with police.
The initial updated Mossos figures carried by RTVE included 128 arrests, 14 injured Mossos officers and 23 affected businesses. Later reports referred to higher arrest totals. Those figures relate to 24 October, not Halloween.
The name Blocus was associated with social-media campaigns drawing on student protests in France. Messages varied: some invoked education, living costs and young people’s prospects, while investigators found other communications encouraging looting and confrontations. There is no verified basis for treating every advertised gathering across Europe as part of one centrally controlled organisation.
Two suspects remanded in Valencia
On 30 October, Spain’s Ministry of the Interior announced the arrest in Picanya of a 20-year-old described by investigators as the suspected founder and main promoter of Blocus in Spain. The Guardia Civil alleged that private messaging groups were used to plan attacks on shops and other property.
On 31 October, a court in Torrent ordered the man held in prison pending proceedings without bail. A court in Catarroja also ordered the remand of another suspect arrested in Alfafar. The Valencian High Court statement reported by Europa Press said the investigations concern alleged involvement in criminal-group activity and plans to encourage public disorder, forced-entry theft and damage.
Both individuals remain suspects. Neither has been convicted of those offences, and pre-trial detention is not proof of guilt.
False police warnings circulated online
The concerns were amplified by WhatsApp messages and audio recordings claiming Spanish police had issued official warnings of major Halloween disorder in Madrid and Seville. VerificaRTVE checked the claims and confirmed that the Ministry of the Interior and Policía Nacional denied issuing those messages.
The warnings were false. That does not mean authorities had no genuine concerns: official police operations and investigations were separately documented.
What remains unknown?
- Whether any alleged assaults during the 30 October Palma confrontation resulted in confirmed injuries or criminal complaints.
- The precise formal legal status of the nine minors initially reported in Palma, beyond the accounts of their return to their parents.
- Whether later investigations will substantiate claims of central coordination between different social media accounts or overseas groups.
- Whether police will revise arrests or other figures, or identify further offences in video and digital evidence.
The incidents should also be kept separate from unrelated political demonstrations in Spain during the same period. Similar timing does not establish shared organisers, grievances or responsibility for violence.
Video and original reporting
Contemporaneous footage of the quieter Barcelona deployment is available from Europa Press TV (31 October), with separate Valencia footage also published on Saturday. These should not be confused with videos of the genuine Barcelona riots on 24 October.
Sources
- Europa Press, Mossos’ final Barcelona police figures, 1 November
- elDiario.es, Valencia Halloween operation, 1 November
- EFE, Palma police account, 31 October
- Europa Press, second Palma gathering, 1 November
- Spanish Interior Ministry, Picanya arrest, 30 October
- Europa Press, court proceedings, 31 October
- Maldita, investigation into online gatherings, 26 October
- VerificaRTVE, false police alert, 30 October
Video: Spain’s Halloween police operation
Video: RTVE Noticias, 31 October 2026 (Spanish). The report covers police deployments and pre-trial detention of a suspected Blocus organiser. It predates the final Barcelona identity-check figures.
