Protesters in one of Spain’s major cities have clashed with riot police during a nationwide general strike. Protesters have been marching through the streets of Barcelona on Wednesday (October 15) as part of a 24-hour walkout, which organisers have said has been called to protest “the genocide in Palestine”.

The demonstration has thrown the Catalan capital into chaos, with trains, metros and buses running on skeleton timetables with normal service set at a maximum of 66%. In recent footage shared online, the rally appears to have turned violent, with riot police forced to use pepper spray on protesters, while a vehicle has been set on fire, with “Free Gaza” written on the boot. 

According to NationalWorld, the CGT, IAC, Intersindical-CSC, and COS unions have called for 24-hour stoppages, while CCOO and UGT have called partial two-hour stoppages (from 10 am to 12 pm, from 2 pm to 4 pm, and from 5 pm to 7 pm). 

Previous posts showed protesters blocking the main roads in and out of Barcelona’s commercial port. Now, the protesters have marched into the city’s main area.

The protesters are marching through the main streets and are pointing out stores that are “complicit in genocide”. CGT posted on X: “The picket of the #Vaga15O in Terrassa goes through the main streets of the city and highway accesses.

“Stores complicit in the genocide have been pointed out, such as Carrefour, Zara, McDonald’s. This afternoon demonstration at 6 PM in front of Mútua de Terrassa”.