The Mossos will assess "the proportionality" of the infiltration in a teachers' assembly

BarcelonaSince two agents of the Mossos d'Esquadra disguised themselves in a teachers' assembly where future strikes in the education sector were being discussed —an action that has generated harsh criticism from opposition parties—, the Minister of the Interior, Núria Parlon, had limited herself to supporting the Catalan police and endorsing the explanations provided by the police force. This Monday, however, she has gone a little further: she has announced that in the coming hours the "opportunity and proportionality" of this police action will be assessed, which has coincided with a period of teacher mobilizations to force new negotiations with the Department of Education for the improvement of the collective's working conditions.

The Minister of the Interior has wanted to once again close ranks with the director of the police, Josep Lluís Trapero, after parties like ERC requested his resignation. Parlon has wanted to make it clear that it was an "operational" maneuver and not a "political decision." In fact, she has explicitly stated that Trapero did not make this decision. "Here, what we probably have to assess, which is what we will do in the coming hours, is the opportunity of this measure, the proportionality of these measures, and from here we will make the opportune decisions always from an operational point of view, which is where this decision has been made," Parlon pointed out in the framework of the presentation of the Government's new sustainable forest management strategy, from El Bruc. "We have confidence in the chief, as we said, and in the corps as well," Parlon insisted.

ERC does not condition Trapero's position on the budgets

The police action of the two Mossos d'Esquadra agents has caused the opposition to come out in force against the Government and, specifically, to demand the dismissal of Trapero, which ERC, the Commons, and the CUP demanded last week. However, with the budget negotiations in the final stretch, the Republicans want to separate this crisis from the accounts and will not make it a condition. "One thing is the budgets and another is political criticism. If the resignation request is not specified, they will do it for themselves. It is not a condition for ERC, but rather that they recognize an evident mistake and take the appropriate decisions," stated ERC spokesperson Isaac Albert at a press conference, adding: "We will not let Trapero end up mortgaging the funding for hospitals and schools." The CUP, on the other hand, has asked both ERC and the Commons to break off budget negotiations with the Government.

On the other hand, PSC spokesperson Lluïsa Moret defended Parlon but avoided endorsing Trapero. Moret stated at a press conference that the Government has given "sufficient explanations," but made a clear distinction: "I do not speak about or value Mr. Trapero, I value the Government. The person leading these policies in the Government is called Núria Parlon," she said. She even emphasized that the PSC "has no opinion" on Trapero's position: "We do not have opinions on individuals in directive positions in the departments; what we do is defend public security policies," she asserted. At the same time, the socialist also separated the accounts from the current controversy.

Information and resignation

While parties continue to call for resignations, the USTEC union, the largest among teachers, has announced it is considering filing a lawsuit for violation of fundamental rights with the High Court of Justice of Catalonia. The union denounces that the Government is treating mobilized personnel "like a public order threat" and warns of the normalization of infiltration, surveillance, identification, and intimidation practices against teachers and educational support staff within the framework of union activity and educational mobilizations. The union also explained this Monday in a statement that they will take the police action before the Catalan Data Protection Authority.

The actions will not end here: USTEC has also announced that it will formally request the Department of the Interior "full access to all reports, minutes, proceedings, files, and communications related to assemblies, strikes, and educational mobilizations." The union believes that these events were not exceptional and that they are part of "a sustained police operation against mobilized educational personnel." In the same statement, USTEC also demands the "immediate" resignation of the Minister of the Interior, Núria Parlon, whom it accuses of endorsing an action "incompatible with fundamental rights and with respect for union activity and assembly spaces."

As explained by ARA, the women were two plainclothes agents from the General Directorate of Information of the Catalan police. The same sources specify that they were conducting a "risk assessment" and obtaining information regarding a labor dispute, such as the one existing between the Department of Education and the unions. It is common to see plainclothes Information agents during demonstrations and protests, sometimes among the demonstrators themselves. Sources from the force point out that their function is to gather information to be able to prevent scenarios and also to be able to size police operations for future mobilizations. The act of entering an assembly, according to sources consulted by this newspaper, is not usually such a common dynamic, although some sources clarify that it is not an exceptional operation.