Mataró, in Barcelona province, saw five arrests on Tuesday night after disorder broke out following a family eviction in the Cerdanyola neighbourhood. The people detained included four minors and one adult, according to police sources.
The incidents came hours after a family with four children was evicted from its home. Earlier on Tuesday, the eviction had already prompted neighbourhood mobilisation and led to four other arrests.
According to the Sindicat de l'Habitatge, around 300 people attended an assembly at Can Tuñí park to protest against a rise in evictions in Cerdanyola. The union said four vulnerable families had been evicted in the area in the previous week. More local news
Police sources said demonstrators threw blunt objects and incendiary devices at officers and set fire to containers and other street furniture. The Mossos d'Esquadra deployed units from the Brigada Mòbil, known as Brimo, and the Àrea Regional de Recursos Operatius, known as ARRO, to restore public order.
Firefighters from the Generalitat responded to nine incidents between 9.19pm and 12.17am. These included burning rubbish bins and fires in Can Boada park, where about 70 square metres of vegetation burned, as well as a burning litter bin near Camí del Cros school and containers set alight on Carrer Mèxic, Plaça de les Filipines and Avinguda Amèrica, between the Rocafonda and El Palau neighbourhoods.
Earlier on Tuesday morning, around 50 people took part in a protest against the eviction, including one of the affected family's daughters. The property had been bought by a new owner after a mortgage foreclosure, and the eviction was carried out on a second attempt after an earlier date was postponed. Police are maintaining a presence in the area while the situation is monitored.