Junqueras asks for Trapero's head

BarcelonaWhoever made the decision to disguise two plainclothes agents among the teachers meeting at the Institut Pau Claris did not calculate the effects their discovery would have, in the midst of the Government's crisis with the majority teacher unions. Salvador Illa's partners point invariably towards the Director of the Police, Josep Lluís Trapero, as responsible and demand his head. This Saturday, both ERC and Comuns, essential for governance, have increased pressure on the socialist executive, which from Tuesday must face a new series of strikes in public schools and institutes. "If the director general does not want to resign, it will be up to the president of the Generalitat to dismiss him," stressed the leader of ERC, Oriol Junqueras, from Tàrrega. The leader of Comuns, Jéssica Albiach, has also called for his dismissal because "the infiltration crosses all red lines".

In the midst of budget negotiations, neither Esquerra nor Comuns have explained whether Trapero's dismissal is a condition for approving the 2026 accounts, but both parties expect Illa to act immediately. For now, the president of the Government maintains confidence in both Trapero and the Minister of the Interior, Núria Parlon, to whom he himself has indicated that she is the one who must provide all explanations for the case. She will probably have to do so in Parliament, because the majority of the chamber's groups will force her to explain herself if she does not take the initiative. In a message on X, Parlon has so far limited herself to expressing her confidence in the Mossos d'Esquadra force and also in its director general.

Junts' reproaches

Among the requests for dismissal is also that of the CUP and that of the main opposition party. "The Mossos should be on the street stopping all those people who want to commit crimes and not treating teachers and professors as if they were criminals," lamented the Secretary General of Junts, Jordi Turull. The Junts, in addition to pointing to Trapero, also demand the dismissal of the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Education, Esther Niubó (in addition to that of Territory, Sílvia Paneque, for the Rodalies chaos).

"You cannot boast about fighting the far-right and then have your government attack fundamental rights such as the right to assembly or the right to strike," Turull stated. "Infiltrating police into teachers' assemblies makes no sense," said Junqueras, who considers that Trapero has made the Mossos act "in a very undemocratic manner". The disagreements between Junqueras and Trapero are not new: it was ERC who dismissed him as head of the Mossos during the presidency of Pere Aragonès, and the republican president has never forgotten that it was Trapero who, in the 1-O trial, explained the plan he had to detain the government of the Generalitat before the holding of the referendum.

Confrontation with the unions

The majority unions had requested a new meeting with the Minister of Education before Monday. This Saturday they insist, especially indignant, both about the episode at the Pau Clarís Institute and about the content of a parliamentary response from the Government to the CUP, which includes various police actions during the sector's protest days. The Interior Ministry explains that 10 people have been reported (two under the gag law); 27 have been identified; there are 16 records of data collection from meetings and demonstrations; 4 informational proceedings in court and one record of pyrotechnic intervention.

"USTEC demands immediate explanations from the President of the Generalitat this very weekend, the suspension of any surveillance or infiltration practices against teacher assemblies, and the withdrawal of repression against mobilized teaching staff," the union explains in a statement.