Barcelona denounces a firefighter for an alleged sexual assault on a woman

BarcelonaThe Barcelona City Council has reported a firefighter to the Prosecutor's Office for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman, who woke up disoriented at the Zona Franca fire station. In an emergency press conference, the second deputy mayor for Security, Albert Batlle, explained that on Monday, June 8, they became aware of the events and activated all mechanisms, both internal – with the suspension of salary and employment of the member of the corps – and external – with the transfer of the case to the public ministry.

According to information gathered by the City Council, after consuming alcohol and drugs, this firefighter allegedly entered the premises with his private vehicle with a woman in the car. When the woman woke up disoriented, she called 112. The SEM transferred her to the Hospital Clínic and the sexual assault protocol was activated. Batlle explained that it is currently unknown whether the alleged assault occurred inside or outside the station. The man was on duty on Sunday the 7th, but it has not yet been possible to determine whether the events occurred while he was on duty or just before.

"If confirmed, these would be extremely serious events, absolutely incompatible with the rules of public service," said Batlle. For now, the City Council has suspended the firefighter – who had recently joined the corps – from salary and employment and has opened a disciplinary file. "We have acted with the utmost determination, guaranteeing respect for procedures and the principle of presumption of innocence," said the deputy mayor, who added that the events were reported to the Prosecutor's Office on June 10. The Security councilor also showed the council's full willingness to collaborate with both justice and the victim, and has not ruled out presenting itself as a private prosecution if judicial proceedings are opened.

From the Barcelona Fire Department, the head of the Civil Protection, Prevention and Fire Extinction and Rescue Service, Sebastià Massagué, has shown himself to be emphatic regarding events that "do not identify at all with the values of the corps, its dynamics, its history, and its commitment to the city." "We have a very clear code of ethics, we will be intransigent with any of these behaviors," he stressed, and explained that a meeting has already been held with the corps' commanders to ask them for "intolerance towards the slightest suspicion of conduct that does not comply with the corps' code of values."

New measures

Given the seriousness of the case, Batlle explained that a series of measures will be implemented so that situations like this do not happen again. In this regard, he said that a deontological unit and internal affairs unit will be created within the Barcelona Firefighters corps, and that the drafting of projects to install perimeter surveillance cameras in all fire stations has been commissioned. Furthermore, the current operational coexistence rules in the fire stations will be reviewed – such as the instruction on visits and the service order on alcohol consumption – with the aim of reinforcing them. The deontological content materials that are part of the access course to the Firefighters corps, promotion courses, and job provision courses will also be reviewed.