On 11 November 2026, during a general strike in Ripoll, Girona, Mayor and Aliança Catalana leader Sílvia Orriols said she was assaulted as she confronted a picket outside an open Mercadona. She said about 20 people were seeking to vandalise the shop.
Video of the confrontation showed Orriols, wearing a pink coat, recording as she walked alongside the picket. La Vanguardia reported that demonstrators tried to block her and move her away. She then attempted to pass behind a banner reading “La educación es futuro”; the newspaper described a physical struggle. Orriols said she had approached the group to stop damage to the store.
In a post on X, she wrote: «Me han agredido cuando intentaba impedir que vandalizaran un establecimiento abierto». Translated from Spanish, the statement means: “They assaulted me while I was trying to stop them vandalising an open establishment.” Orriols later posted an image of bruising and marks on her left hand, including a finger injury, to support her account.
Crónica Global reported that striking workers accused Orriols and Ripoll’s second deputy mayor, Guillem Barranqueras, who is also a member of Aliança Catalana, of trying to boycott the mobilization. The confrontation unfolded as the picket moved toward the supermarket. Orriols and other members of the municipal government sought to prevent it from reaching the open business.
She defended her intervention against criticism for supporting Mercadona. In another X post, she said: «A mí me da igual si se llama Mercadona o cal Jepet...si paga impuestos en Ripoll, crea puestos de trabajo en el municipio y abastece a los vecinos es mi deber de garantizar su seguridad y su derecho de levantar la persiana».
Orriols also said the group shouted «El próximo día con dinamita» and «Sílvia Orriols en el paredón». Another chant was «Sílvia Orriols vota vox». She said she had to explain “a few times” that the demonstration was about a lack of housing.
A separate account of picket disruptions in València is available in this report on blocked routes.
