Violence Erupts in Barcelona and Madrid as Spain's General Strike Ends in Clashes With Police

Spain's first general strike in 14 years ended in fire and clashes with police Wednesday night, as masked groups broke away from largely peaceful marches in Barcelona and riot police charged crowds in Madrid, according to Fox News, the Telegraph and Euronews.

In Barcelona, protesters vandalized stores, lit small bonfires and fired fireworks at officers arriving in riot gear and armored vehicles on the Paseo de Gracia, Fox News reported, citing The Associated Press. Euronews reported that from shortly after 7:30 p.m., masked protesters threw stones, bottles and fireworks at police near the Passeig de Gràcia and the Plaça de Catalunya, set trash bins and street furniture alight as burning barricades and smashed shop windows, with stores reportedly looted as the unrest spread toward Las Ramblas. Catalonia's regional police, the Mossos d'Esquadra, broke up the groups with crowd-control projectiles and baton charges.

In Madrid, riot police charged and fired tear gas, and protesters blocked the Gran Via, the Telegraph reported.

Catalan regional President Salvador Illa condemned the violence and said it did not reflect the peaceful protest, Euronews reported.

The counts differ by outlet. The Telegraph reported at least 53 arrests as clashes broke out in several cities. The BBC reported that Spain's interior ministry said dozens of people were arrested for a range of incidents. Euronews said 18 people were arrested during the Barcelona unrest, bringing the day's total there to 20.

Unions said a police operation using tear gas and batons injured 20 protesters, and that police used pepper spray on pickets at the Mercamadrid wholesale market, where 13 people needed medical care, the Telegraph reported. The unions said they would file a criminal complaint over what they called a "disproportionate" response.

The strike was backed by Spain's two largest unions, UGT and CCOO, along with tenants' groups, over soaring housing costs and the high cost of living, the Telegraph and the BBC reported. Crowd figures varied widely. City police estimated more than 55,000 marchers in Barcelona while organizers claimed about 400,000, according to Euronews. The government put the Madrid crowd at about 120,000, Fox News and the Telegraph reported.

Unions claimed 4 million workers joined the walkout. The Telegraph reported union estimates of 60 percent participation against employers' estimates of 3 percent. The CEOE business federation called turnout low and uneven, and its vice president argued it was not a strike over labor issues, the BBC reported.

The strike lands less than three weeks before a Nov. 29 snap election. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called that vote last month after parliament failed to approve his housing reform plan, and he and his ministers encouraged workers to strike, the BBC reported. Popular Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo dismissed the strike as nonsense and sharply attacked the unions, and PP spokesman Miguel Tellado accused the government of exploiting it, the BBC reported. Sánchez answered: "What is nonsense is to question the rights of workers to strike."

Spain's housing squeeze is real, and families there deserve a way to afford a home of their own. But a just grievance is never a license to smash the windows of small shops and set the streets on fire. Peaceful assembly is a right; rioting is a crime, and the thousands who marched peacefully were poorly served by the masked few who came for a fight. With the prime minister encouraging the strike weeks before an election, Spanish voters will weigh both the housing crisis and the disorder when they go to the polls on Nov. 29.