The opposition denounces "chaos" in Illa's government after Trapero's resignation

BarcelonaThe resignation of Josep Lluís Trapero as director of the Police has caused a political earthquake in Catalonia. The great bet of the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, to steer the Mossos force from a high political office with an experienced policeman has lasted two years, a period in which political criticisms have accumulated due to cases such as police infiltration in a teaching assembly and the force's deployment during King Felipe VI's visit to Montserrat. For this reason, after his resignation, the opposition has hit the nail on the head and pointed out the "lack of control" and "chaos" that the Interior department is suffering after Trapero's farewell, in the words of the main opposition group, Junts –Trapero's resignation comes shortly after that of the secretary general of the Interior, Tomàs Carrión–. The 'juntaires', in this sense, have demanded the appearance of the Minister of the Interior, Núria Parlon, and have lamented the "authentic mess" of this Government.

"The increase in street insecurity is linked to the chaos in the department that has the responsibility to counter it," said the parliamentary spokesperson for Junts, Salvador Vergés, in a press conference. Trapero's resignation has been welcomed by ERC, the CUP, and Comuns. The spokesperson for the republicans in the Catalan chamber, Ester Capella, said that Trapero's resignation was "necessary" due to the "many accumulated errors" and that "a new stage must be opened." ERC had recurrently put on the table that Illa had to dismiss Trapero and has now celebrated his departure. The CUP has also celebrated Trapero's resignation and said it is a "victory" for anti-repressive entities, according to deputy Xavier Pellicer, who has also asked for Parlon to step down. Comuns have also qualified it as "good news," according to spokesperson David Cid, although the replacement does not convince them due to the fact that it repeats the same formula of appointing a policeman to a political position. Oriol Junqueras' party wants to wait to assess whether Parlon should resign and to evaluate the work of Ferran López, whom it has not criticized. However, Capella has admitted that they do not like that a "uniformed official" occupies this position.

Loss of control?

Vergés recalled that Illa incorporated Trapero as a "star signing," for whom Carles Puigdemont's party has shown no harmony in recent years, but he also fully criticized the change in the position of Director of Police, Ferran López. In the opinion of the Junts leader, López "personifies the application of Article 155 within the Mossos." He even predicted that in the effort to delegate the leadership of security in the country to Mossos agents, "it will fail again," and for this reason, he has demanded that Illa dismiss Parlon: "She should resign, because she is the person ultimately responsible for the Department of the Interior, and this department is leaking," he said, and he demanded a total "remodeling."

On the other hand, the secretary general of the Catalan PP, Juan Fernández, pointed out the "disarray" of the Government due to the change of five high-ranking officials in two years, and told X that it is "in decomposition." Regarding Vox, its parliamentary spokesperson, Joan Garriga, linked Trapero's departure to the "chaos" in the Interior, announced the request for Parlon's appearance, for whom he has demanded resignation, and linked the resignations to the fact that "security is getting worse." Aliança has not commented on it.