The PP stars in an incident with pepper spray that has forced the evacuation of three floors at the Congress

BarcelonaChaos in Congress this Wednesday after a controversial intervention by PP deputy Ana Belén Vázquez in which she displayed pepper spray, which led to her being expelled. The issue is that, shortly after, the Spanish lower house had to seal off three floors, which includes three restrooms, the kitchen, and a dining room, and twelve people were treated because a spray containing a toxic substance had just been emptied there. In fact, a PP worker acknowledged having handled in the restroom the pepper spray that Vázquez had given him to clean.

According to the account of the worker from Alberto Núñez Feijóo's party, the deputy who ended up being expelled handed him the canister after having emptied it on the street and asked him to wash it because there were residues on the outside. As he explains, he washed it, dried it, and activated it twice in the men's restroom to check that no product remained. Upon doing so, a small amount of substance allegedly came out, but the man claims he did not notice any effect nor did he smell anything. According to this version, the deputy had already warned the party on Tuesday that she would bring the empty canister, equating it to a deodorant can.

About ten minutes after initially refusing to hand over the canister, Vázquez went to a police station to surrender it. Be that as it may, twelve people from different areas of the chamber received medical assistance due to the pepper spray, including several kitchen workers and a member of the Mauritanian delegation. One worker felt unwell after inhaling the substance and other employees suffered from itching. Vox requested the evacuation of its floor after some workers noticed discomfort there. The gas could have concentrated in the restrooms and spread through the ventilation ducts.

The affected areas remain sealed off and are awaiting checks by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). In this regard, the chamber is reviewing security cameras to clarify what happened and plans to release a statement regarding the footage. The incident will also have to be recorded in a report by the police and the chamber's legal counsel.

In light of these events, the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, has described the members of the Popular Party who caused the total chaos in Congress as "washed-up criminals." In fact, he has published a video that shows how Vázquez and a worker pass the spray to each other.

The expulsion of Ana Vázquez

The President of the Congress, Francina Armengol, has expelled PP deputy Ana Vázquez from the hemicycle after she showed a pepper spray canister during the government control session. Armengol issued two calls to order to her and asked her to leave the chamber and leave the spray outside. "I must call the deputy to order for having shown a weapon in the plenary session," stated Armengol, who defended the decision in application of the Congress regulations. Vázquez ended up leaving the hemicycle amidst the applause of a good part of the Popular bench.

After the incident, the Popular deputy asserted that the canister was empty and questioned Armengol's actions. "What do you mean, Armengol, that the children of Ceuta go to school with weapons? That all women carry weapons?", asked the deputy, who defended that many women carry sprays of this type to protect themselves. Vázquez said she wanted to give a voice to the girls of Ceuta and announced that she will take measures against the presidency of the Congress. From the PP, they maintain that Vázquez, who is a police officer, knows how this type of spray works and that in no case is it a weapon.

The weapons regulations

Armengol's team has justified the decision to expel her with article 5.1 of the arms regulation, which includes personal defense sprays and other weapons that release gases or aerosols among the prohibited objects. The same article, however, establishes an exception for sprays authorized by the Ministry of Health, which can be sold in armories to adults. Therefore, the regulation considers them weapons for regulatory purposes but concludes that not all sprays are illegal.