Teuve3: Blocus 'kids' loot shops because those who stay home are called cowards

Several teenagers from Terrassa, Spain, have reported being added to messaging groups that organise vandalism and looting, and being called cowards if they do not show up. Peer pressure does the rest.

The **3CatInfo** post gathers the testimony of several teenagers in **Terrassa** who found themselves included, without asking for it, in chats encouraging them to take part in riots and looting. The mechanism is simple and old: whoever does not show up gets singled out. «Si no hi vas, et diuen que ets un defecat», one of them sums up. Translated, the phrase means that if you don't go, they call you a coward.

## A summons you do not choose

The pattern these kids describe is not a formal organisation. They are added to a messaging group, sometimes without knowing who added them, and that is where the pressure begins. There is no hierarchy, no dues, no master plan. There is a list of names and a date. And the threat of being dropped from the group if you do not show up.

That "being left out" is the key. For a teenager, the group is not an accessory: it is where their people are. Losing it carries a social cost no adult should underestimate.

## The economic cost of a broken shop window

Looting is not a prank. Every broken pane of glass, every emptied shelf, gets paid for. The shop pays, often a small business that cannot afford the repairs or the days closed. The insurer pays, raising premiums for everyone. And the neighbourhood pays, losing a service and gaining a boarded-up premises.

The post gives no figures for the damage and does not identify specific shops. What it does make clear is the context: there are calls circulating on messaging apps and there are minors who find themselves in them without having sought them out.

## The responsibility of whoever adds

The testimony points to a third party: whoever adds people to the group. That is the first link, and it is not anonymous. Behind every list there is someone deciding who to include. That person is not exercising peer pressure; they are manufacturing it.

The teenagers who have spoken describe it as something that happens to them, not something they do. That distinction matters. And it should not be lost sight of: the one who organises is not the same as the one who gets swept along.

In any situation of this kind, it is best to turn to a trusted adult or the authorities; this text is no substitute for that step.