The Outcomes of Rioting: Exploring the Effects of the 2014 Gamonal Riots on Emotions and Collective Identities

After months of mobilization against the renewal of a street in Gamonal, a district of the Northern city of Burgos, Spain, locals experienced four days of rioting in January 2014. The neighbours of this historically working class district were opposed to the construction of a new boulevard because they considered the council was splurging public resources. This was seen as an act of corruption at a time of crisis, when several budget adjustments and cuts were being implemented. Pre-existing social networks as well as a strong local identity were one of the main factors for the development of the riots. The district became a liberated space where emotional dynamics and collective identity played an important role to strength solidarity ties and to reduce repression risks, although some locals were arrested eventually. This paper examines what are the consequences of rioting in the district community. The aim is to focus on analysing the effects of using this form of collective action on activist’s emotional bonds and identity, studying whether the solidarity ties and social bonds that were built remain. To this purpose, I will conduct in-depth interviews three years after riots broke out.