This travel photo was shot a few months ago at Passeig de Gracia, Barcelona. It was a gorgeous shopping street with beautiful building design and remarkable image as an upmarket shopping alley. The tourist attraction, Casa Batlló, a creation of Antoni Gaudi, is also here in Passeig de Gracia.

Unfortunately, the view has changed. Violent outbreaks stroke the street a few days ago, 100 days after Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s Popular Party took office. The strike happened in the 800,000 people protest after the new government vowed to cut Spain’s 23pc unemployment rate and lower its deficit, which is expected to contain deep austerity measures and possibly tax increases as the conservative government seeks savings of €40bn (£33bn).

The most violent episodes broke out in Barcelona, where masked protesters rampaged down Gracia, the Catalan capital’s most upmarket shopping district, setting fire to rubbish and hurling missiles at designer store fronts, which had been boarded up ahead of the strike. A bonfire was lit outside Barcelona’s stock exchange. A branch of the coffee chain Starbucks was also set on fire. 104 people were injured and 176 arrested in the incidence.

God blessed as the situation seemed back to normal after a few days. We just hope that Passeig de Gracia would not be affected by any strike as it is one of the ‘must-visit’ destination in Barcelona. While the new government is striving to save Spain economy from trailing what had happened in Greece and Italy, travelers visiting Barcelona should be cautious to any social issues that might happen again in the city in near future. Having said that, Barcelona is still one of my favourite city to holiday in Europe… – Travel Feeder, your ultimate travel guide to Europe