Two plainclothes policewomen disguised themselves at the teachers' assembly to "assess the risks"

BarcelonaIt was a teachers' assembly where the upcoming mobilizations and how the planned strikes would be carried out were to be debated. According to the unions' version, it was a public and open meeting at Institut Pau Claris, in Barcelona, and two women attended who could not be identified. When questioned about their presence, they replied that they were teachers from an institute, but a professor from the same center said he did not know them. Immediately afterwards, they left. Some of those present at the assembly, according to union sources, recognized those two women as mossas d'esquadra.

the criticism of political parties and some formations like ERC has occurred This Thursday afternoon, there was already a first response from the police to this controversy: the force stated that they carry out their functions "always in accordance with current legislation" and within their competencies. This Friday morning, the criticism of political parties and some formations like ERC has occurred have called for the dismissal of the police chief, Josep Lluís Trapero. Also this Friday, the Catalan police have gone a step further and have wanted to clarify the "legal framework and the purpose of the actions that have generated public debate in recent days", indirectly admitting the facts.

The Mossos have wanted to define the functions of the General Information Commissioner's Office to justify their presence at the assembly: "The explicit objective of these functions is to be able to carry out an assessment of threats and risks. This is not a discretionary decision of the police force: it is the fulfillment of a regulatory obligation", they state from the Mossos, and add that "these functions are included in the current decree of structure approved in 2023 and were also included in the previous one, from 2011".

Prevent scenarios

"The Mossos d'Esquadra respect and defend the right of assembly, the right to strike and trade union freedom, just as we respect the rest of individual and collective rights, and we have the legal obligation to guarantee them all, as well as public safety. Our obligation is to ensure that these rights can be exercised safely for everyone. We are at the disposal of parliamentary groups to explain our actions," concludes the Catalan police in a statement.

This action has not only generated criticism in the political and social sphere, but also within the Mossos. Various sources explain that it is common for Intelligence agents to eavesdrop on social mobilizations to foresee scenarios and have police intelligence. However, some sources consulted affirm that it is disproportionate to do so in an assembly of teachers. Above all, they consider that with trade union groups, where there are clear interlocutors, the official mediation work carried out by the police makes sense, but not the task of camouflaging themselves in their meetings. Taking into account that unions usually announce and communicate their protests beforehand, they consider that much more information must be extracted and with the risks of exposure and future controversies that are assumed.

Risks and benefits

Consulted sources provide other examples where it makes more sense to go undercover, such as protests that could turn violent or that are not communicated. Also in sectors where there are no official representatives or institutional dialogue through the figure of mediation agents. That is, when they are threats to security and other methods must be sought to obtain information. The sources add that the actions of the agents or the orders they received caused them to expose themselves greatly and assume many risks for the information they could extract.

In fact, this controversy comes after various cases of infiltration by Spanish police agents into Catalan social movements have been uncovered in recent times. The consulted Mossos sources clarify that this action in the assembly cannot be considered an infiltration nor can it be compared to the figure of an undercover agent, which requires a judge's authorization. Therefore, they differentiate it from previously reported cases and frame it as a task of listening and information gathering.

All of this has occurred in a tense atmosphere between the Government and the main teachers' unions, who have seventeen days of strike called before the end of the school year and have already requested a new meeting with the Minister of Education, Esther Niubó, before next Monday.