Madrid, Spain – Shopkeepers in the heart of the Spanish capital were filmed nailing plywood panels over their glittering windows as the city braced for feared riots linked to the online ‘Blocus’ movement over the Halloween weekend.

Footage shared by antony67 on October 30 shows workers on ladders boarding up storefronts along Gran Vía, Calle de Fuencarral and around Puerta del Sol. Victoria’s Secret, New Balance, Adidas, Gucci, Loewe and other brands are seen hidden behind bare wooden hoardings, while pedestrians with suitcases walk past the eerily shuttered facades. Some of the work continued late into the night, with one clip showing crews still fitting panels at around 22:40.

“The shops in the Puerta del Sol area of Madrid are starting to armour themselves,” the filmer wrote, adding that stores were preparing for possible disturbances during the weekend.

According to Spanish media, businesses in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Bilbao covered their windows after calls on social media linked to ‘Blocus’ urged young people to loot and vandalise shops on Halloween. The fears follow riots in Barcelona on October 24, when 133 people were arrested. Madrid authorities deployed more than 1,700 municipal police officers and around 200 riot police in the city centre, even though the Madrid call to action had reportedly been withdrawn.

Police across Spain also arrested about ten people accused of instigating the looting, including the alleged leader of the movement, who was detained in Picanya, Valencia.

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