Barcelona on FIRE as rioters torch Apple store and loot Spanish businesses in first general strike in 14 years

Chaos has erupted in Barcelona as balaclava-clad rioters rampage through the streets of Spain, torching barricades and bins as they face off with police in the country's first general strike in 14 years.

Millions of Spaniards are participating in a 24-hour nationwide strike to protest against the rising cost of living and skyrocketing house prices.

The demonstrations have seen employees walk out of shops, airports and transport hubs in major cities, with police making dozens of arrests throughout the day.

However, as darkness fell in Barcelona, tensions soared as masked thugs hurled Molotov cocktails through shop windows and launched fireworks in the direction of police officers.

Looters also targeted Spanish businesses and set fire to an Apple store in the Passeig de Gràcia area, with officers arresting eight people in the prestigious boulevard alone.

Activist groups have claimed roughly 400,000 people poured onto the streets of Barcelona for today's protests.

However, Catalan authorities have put this number nearer to 55,000.

In Madrid, meanwhile, officials confirmed 120,000 people had taken part in demonstrations throughout the day.

"We've completely brought the city to a standstill," one demonstrator in the Spanish capital said, adding: "Everyone's out there, despite the rainy weather, everyone's out on the streets."

Spanish trade unions have hailed today's general strike as a success, with Unai Sorda, secretary-general of CCOO, declaring it had "exceeded the labour unions' expectations".

The CCOO, alongside the UGT, were instrumental in organising demonstrations across the country, with both reporting the walkouts had brought a number of sectors to a halt.

The unions said that the stoppages amounted to 90 per cent in the automotive and port sectors, 85 per cent in the meat industry, 82 per cent in waste collection and 75 per cent in the energy sector.

However, the Spanish business owners group, CEOE, claimed only five per cent of the country's workers had participated as they branded the strike a "failure".

Fury over rising house prices across the country has been simmering in recent months, with tensions boiling over in September after a video went viral on social media showing a frail grandmother forcibly evicted from her property after her rent increased by 275 per cent.

Following her court-ordered eviction, Ms Abascal was taken to hospital and it was confirmed on Saturday that she had died.

More to follow...

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