The Parliament will sanction Sílvia Orriols and Joan Garriga for their "disrespectful" faults
The Board will now have to establish the sanction for a minor offense, which can range from a public reprimand to a fine of 12,000 euros
BarcelonaParliament acted this Tuesday against violations of the code of conduct in the hemicycle. After nine months and dragging four cases —one from Aliança Catalana and three from Vox— before the Committee on the Status of Deputies, the body chaired by Antoni Castellà (Junts) has agreed, in a secret closed-door session, to classify the actions of the leader of Aliança Catalana, Sílvia Orriols, as a minor offense. Now, the committee will transfer this ruling to the Bureau of Parliament, which will be responsible for deciding and applying the final sanction. This penalty can range from a public reprimand to a financial fine of between 600 and 12,000 euros.
However, the decision certifies that the deputy's statements are not covered by parliamentary freedom of expression, but rather cross the red lines of "conduct respectful of other deputies (...) without discrimination based on (...) origin or social or ethnic condition," as stipulated in Article 7 of the code of conduct.
Orriols' case, which was the first to be initiated, dates back to April 2025 at the request of ERC. The Republicans denounced the use of "repeated" and "vexatious" expressions by the far-right leader against the Republican deputy Najat Driouech. Specifically, Orriols accused Driouech of making "a display of Islamic misogyny" for wearing a veil, and attacked Esquerra for "whitewashing the discrimination and submission of women." Words that, as the committee has resolved today after hearing all parties and legal services, constitute a violation of the code of conduct.
Tuesday's session also served to unblock the remaining three cases, all against Vox deputies. The parliamentary body has ruled that the actions of the party's spokesperson, Joan Garriga, also constitute a minor offense. One of the cases was for stating, in May 2025, that socialists spent money on "drugs and prostitutes," and the other, initiated in October by ERC, Comuns, and the CUP, for calling the executed president Lluís Companys an "assassin," even going so far as to hang posters with the inscription "Companys assassin" on the windows of the party's offices.
On the contrary, in the third investigation, directed against deputy Júlia Calvet, the commission has determined that her statements are covered by parliamentary freedom of expression and, therefore, dismisses sanctioning her. Calvet had been investigated for accusing the Minister of Social Rights, Mònica Martínez Bravo, of leading "one of the biggest corruption cases in the history of this Parliament" at the DGAIA.
