Barcelona prepares for Saturday demonstrations as police deploy more than 300 officers

Barcelona is preparing for three demonstrations scheduled for Saturday, with the Mossos d'Esquadra deploying more than 300 officers in a major police operation.

Meanwhile, city-centre businesses are weighing up precautions, with some preparing to close early while others hope to trade as normal.

The Level 4 police operation is designed to "prevent incidents, protect public order and businesses, and act decisively," according to Mossos sources.

Officers will begin deploying at 3pm, carrying out checks on public transport and searches for potentially dangerous objects, pyrotechnics and Halloween masks.

Three demonstrations called by Blocus are scheduled in the Catalan capital: two at 5pm, in Plaça de Catalunya and Plaça de Lluís Companys, and a third at 8pm on Passeig de Gràcia.

The transport checks are partly intended to prevent a repeat of last Saturday's unrest, as many of those involved in the disturbances on 24 October came from towns in the first metropolitan ring around Barcelona.

The scale of the police deployment has been welcomed by Barcelona Oberta, the association representing businesses in the city centre, which expects "absolute normality" for retailers and hopes shops will be able to remain open throughout the day.

"We cannot allow Barcelona to become Paris," Gabriel Jené, the association's president, told the Catalan News Agency (ACN).

He said the police operation should provide sufficient guarantees for businesses to operate as usual.

Jené expects Saturday to be different from the previous weekend, when the vandalism was, in his words, "the result of improvisation and a completely unforeseen situation."

He said there was now a willingness among "all the public authorities and security forces" to respond "with the utmost force and diligence."

However, not all businesses are taking the same approach.

Some major retailers have already begun protecting their shop windows with wooden boards, while others are considering closing around midday or in the early afternoon.

Some smaller businesses have yet to decide whether to open at all, preferring to assess the situation as the day unfolds.

Suspected leaders arrested

The preparations come as police continue to investigate last Saturday's looting and vandalism in Barcelona. Spain's Civil Guard arrested a 20-year-old man in Valencia on Friday who is suspected of founding and leading the Blocus movement in Spain, while the Mossos have arrested three young people in Catalonia over their alleged involvement in organising groups linked to the disturbances.

The investigation remains ongoing, with further arrests not ruled out