Vito Quiles flees Sabadell Ikea after stone-throwing protest in Spain
Vito Quiles was barred from the UAB by order of the university's rectorate. Around a thousand people protested and he ended up fleeing in a van from a Sabadell Ikea after stones were thrown.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Vito Quiles flees a Sabadell Ikea after a hail of stones
What happens when an agitator calls an event on a campus, the university bans it and a thousand people gather to stop it? According to the account of events, the answer is a series of chases: first the regional police cutting off his access by road to the UAB; then a group of protesters chasing him to a shopping centre in Sabadell; and, in the end, a van speeding off with the protagonist inside.
The UAB rectorate had warned the Regional Ministry of the Interior on Sunday that **Vito Quiles did not have authorisation** to hold any event on the premises. It also recalled the altercations of the previous year on campus and the recent events in Pamplona. With that warning on the table, the Mossos deployed a operation at the main road access points to check vehicles and intercept the agitator. He never reached the Plaça Cívica, where **around a thousand people** had gathered to protest against his presence.
From the Plaça Cívica to the police cordon
The march advanced towards the Hemeroteca. There, a cordon of Mossos blocked the protesters' way. At that point there were moments of great tension, with eggs, files, lemons, paintballs and other hard objects thrown at the police lines. The BRIMO and ARRO riot police charged twice shortly before 6:30 pm to disperse the crowd.
Unable to enter the campus, Quiles announced on his social media that he was heading to the area of the Ikea at the Via Sabadell shopping centre. There he was met by **around twenty supporters**, with whom he chatted and posed for photos. Shortly afterwards, some **50 antifascist protesters** who had walked the route crossing the C-58 motorway turned up at the spot. On spotting him, they began throwing stones and paving slabs at him. The retreat, just after 7:00 pm, was hasty.
Who is Vito Quiles and why does he provoke this rejection?
The man carries a label that the account of events itself does not dispute: far-right agitator. His modus operandi —events announced on social media, a presence on campuses and at party events, recording of confrontations— has made him a magnet for controversy. The underlying question is whether such a figure deserves the mobilisation he provokes or whether, on the contrary, the mass response is precisely the fuel he needs.
Some argue that **he is being given an importance he does not have**. A gathering of a thousand people for an event that, according to the account, drew seven supporters in Barcelona reveals an imbalance that is hard to justify. Others argue the opposite: the presence of such figures in university spaces is not harmless and the citizen response is legitimate. The problem is where protest ends and stone-throwing begins.
The paradox of tolerance, used in both directions
Karl Popper's concept, formulated in 1945 in The Open Society and Its Enemies, has returned to the centre of the debate. The paradox holds that a tolerant society cannot tolerate those who seek to destroy it. The problem is that today it is invoked from opposing trenches: some use it to justify the cordon against the agitator; others to point out that whoever throws stones at a microphone is behaving like the very thing they claim to fight.
The scene has something of the grotesque about it. A man with a microphone, twenty or so trinc, fifty people chasing him between the car parks of a shopping centre and police vans dispersing the protesters minutes later. All of it with the university closed by decree and a motorway in between. If the goal was to stop him from speaking, the truth is the operation guaranteed him more media coverage than any rally.
The cost of provocation
Beyond the noise, one uncomfortable question remains: who pays for the operation? Mossos at the road access points, riot police on campus, vans at the shopping centre. A considerable deployment to contain an event that, on paper, had no authorisation. The ministry acted at the request of the rectorate, which turns the matter into a public order problem stemming from an administrative decision.
And the final image remains: the van fleeing at high estimulante ilegal, the protesters setting off back towards the university campus, the Mossos chasing them on foot until they disperse. Nobody gained anything. Well, perhaps the agitator, who now has material for his next video.
What happens when an agitator calls an event on a campus, the university bans it and a thousand people gather to stop it? According to the account of events, the answer is a series of chases: first the regional police cutting off his access by road to the UAB; then a group of protesters chasing him to a shopping centre in Sabadell; and, in the end, a van speeding off with the protagonist inside.
The UAB rectorate had warned the Regional Ministry of the Interior on Sunday that **Vito Quiles did not have authorisation** to hold any event on the premises. It also recalled the altercations of the previous year on campus and the recent events in Pamplona. With that warning on the table, the Mossos deployed a operation at the main road access points to check vehicles and intercept the agitator. He never reached the Plaça Cívica, where **around a thousand people** had gathered to protest against his presence.
From the Plaça Cívica to the police cordon
The march advanced towards the Hemeroteca. There, a cordon of Mossos blocked the protesters' way. At that point there were moments of great tension, with eggs, files, lemons, paintballs and other hard objects thrown at the police lines. The BRIMO and ARRO riot police charged twice shortly before 6:30 pm to disperse the crowd.
Unable to enter the campus, Quiles announced on his social media that he was heading to the area of the Ikea at the Via Sabadell shopping centre. There he was met by **around twenty supporters**, with whom he chatted and posed for photos. Shortly afterwards, some **50 antifascist protesters** who had walked the route crossing the C-58 motorway turned up at the spot. On spotting him, they began throwing stones and paving slabs at him. The retreat, just after 7:00 pm, was hasty.
Who is Vito Quiles and why does he provoke this rejection?
The man carries a label that the account of events itself does not dispute: far-right agitator. His modus operandi —events announced on social media, a presence on campuses and at party events, recording of confrontations— has made him a magnet for controversy. The underlying question is whether such a figure deserves the mobilisation he provokes or whether, on the contrary, the mass response is precisely the fuel he needs.
Some argue that **he is being given an importance he does not have**. A gathering of a thousand people for an event that, according to the account, drew seven supporters in Barcelona reveals an imbalance that is hard to justify. Others argue the opposite: the presence of such figures in university spaces is not harmless and the citizen response is legitimate. The problem is where protest ends and stone-throwing begins.
The paradox of tolerance, used in both directions
Karl Popper's concept, formulated in 1945 in The Open Society and Its Enemies, has returned to the centre of the debate. The paradox holds that a tolerant society cannot tolerate those who seek to destroy it. The problem is that today it is invoked from opposing trenches: some use it to justify the cordon against the agitator; others to point out that whoever throws stones at a microphone is behaving like the very thing they claim to fight.
The scene has something of the grotesque about it. A man with a microphone, twenty or so trinc, fifty people chasing him between the car parks of a shopping centre and police vans dispersing the protesters minutes later. All of it with the university closed by decree and a motorway in between. If the goal was to stop him from speaking, the truth is the operation guaranteed him more media coverage than any rally.
The cost of provocation
Beyond the noise, one uncomfortable question remains: who pays for the operation? Mossos at the road access points, riot police on campus, vans at the shopping centre. A considerable deployment to contain an event that, on paper, had no authorisation. The ministry acted at the request of the rectorate, which turns the matter into a public order problem stemming from an administrative decision.
And the final image remains: the van fleeing at high estimulante ilegal, the protesters setting off back towards the university campus, the Mossos chasing them on foot until they disperse. Nobody gained anything. Well, perhaps the agitator, who now has material for his next video.
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (19 replies).
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