Parlon demands Belarra apologize for "inciting hate crimes" against the Mossos d'Esquadra.

BarcelonaThe words of Podemos leader Ione Belarra in the ARA Opposing the transfer of immigration powers because he believes the Mossos d'Esquadra would carry out "racist raids based on ethnic profiling" has drawn criticism from several pro-independence leaders, but also from the Catalan government. The Minister of the Interior, Núria Parlon, has demanded that Belarra apologize for "inciting hate crimes" against the Mossos d'Esquadra, saying in statements to TV3: "It means having very little respect for the police forces." Junts, which agreed to this transfer of powers, has also attacked the purple party. "The prejudice expressed against the Mossos d'Esquadra is first of all Spanish supremacist and first of all xenophobic," Puigdemont reacted in a message from X, while the secretary general of Junts, Jordi Turull, described Podemos's discourse on this matter as "close cousins" to that of Vox. Specifically, the regional council members will introduce an amendment to the Commons' motion on the Department of the Interior, which they are presenting this week in the Parliamentary plenary session to defend the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) and to "condemn" Belarra's statements.

In the interview with this newspaper, Belarra reiterated her party's rejection of transferring immigration powers to Catalonia, arguing that this would imply "validating the institutional racism that governs all of Spain" through the immigration law, which they hope to repeal, "the agent of migrants in Catalonia," she added. A statement that Puigdemont was quick to question: "What is this based on? What data does he have to be able to make such a serious statement? Or does he assume that we Catalans, simply because we are Catalans, have a xenophobic impulse?" he asked this Sunday via X.

There were also racist raids, and during the government in which she was minister, there was the massacre in Melilla. And obviously, she neither caved in nor stood firm to find out the truth. It will come, not that Catalonia will manage them."

However, the exchange of reproaches and accusations didn't end there. In a direct response to Puigdemont's message, Belarra pointed out that what bothers Junts is being told "the truth." "You only want the powers [over immigration] to implement racist policies and compete with the Catalan Alliance," she insisted, adding that "Podemos wants regularization now and the repeal of the immigration law, not to expose thousands of racialized people in Catalonia to more racist raids."

It must be taken into account, beyond the arguments of both sides, that ethnic profiling—whether for immigration reasons or not—is common in both Spain and Catalonia, where the Mossos d'Esquadra also participate. A fact that serves to illustrate this reality was pointed out by a 2022 study by SOS RacismeAccording to data from the Catalan police, officers identify almost four times more foreigners than Spaniards. The organization denounced this as a disproportionate figure and criticized the fact that ethnic and racial profiling is a standard criterion in police practice, beyond being suspected of a crime.

Iglesias clashes with Junqueras

Podemos's position on immigration powers, but not only that, has also generated a reaction from Esquerra. The leader of the Republicans, Oriol Junqueras, shared on the social network X a screenshot of the interview in Belarra and another of a tweet from Pablo Echenique, former leader of the Lilacs, in which he criticized the "witch hunt" of the "Catalan establishment" against the controversial Catalanophobic spectacle A few days ago at an event at Barcelona City Hall. "Before, these things were said by Albert Rivera and Inés Arrimadas," concludes the ERC leader, who compares Podemos's discourse with that of Ciutadans. "Catalonia is mature enough to know how to govern and make its own decisions. We don't need anyone to tell us how to do our work," also affirmed Republicans spokesperson Isaac Albert, who added: "Luckily, Belarra is the progressive party in the Spanish state."

His words, in this case, upset the former leader of Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, who also responded to X: "But neither Rivera, nor Arrimadas, nor your new partners in the PSOE went to see you in prison. We did," he said, ending the message with a "hug."

But it didn't end there: Junqueras responded that he remembers the visit when he was a political prisoner, shortly before Iglesias became Spanish vice president: "Things change, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. And the fact that they're starting to sound like Ciudadanos seems like a change for the worse to me," he concluded.

Iglesias has once again turned his attention to the issue and accused Junqueras of "disrespect." He compared the ERC leader's comparison of Podemos's speech with that of Ciutadans to the former Podemos leader's statement that ERC "sounds like CiU and Pujol." "You know, as I do, the reasons Junts uses in its competition with the Catalanist far-right, which is just as disgusting as the Spanish-speaking one," he concluded.