Minister of Home Affairs says that "it is evident" that Barça players broke the rules

BarcelonaThe Catalan minister of Home Affairs, Miquel Sàmper, has said that "it is evident" that Barça players broke covid rules in the meal they shared on Monday in Leo Messi's house in Castelldefels. According to Sàmper, it would have been different had only footballers participated, because he thinks they could be considered a bubble group, but the fact that their relatives also attended means the rules were broken. "The relevant thing is that people in the public eye should set a better example", he added in an interview with ARA's Antoni Bassas. The Minister has recalled that the Public Health Agency of Catalonia has opened an investigation "as it would do with anyone" and that the penalty will be determined once it is completed: "I expect it will a fine the same as for anybody else". The Catalan Government has also spoken with Barça.

As for the curfew which ends this Saturday at midnight, Sàmper has asked "not to make a bad use of the nocturnal freedom" and has admitted that it will be impossible to enforce compliance with the new rules. The Minister has admitted that the first night "could be difficult" because activities have been scheduled in some squares and beaches. The Mossos d'Esquadra and local police are already preparing an operation because, although people can go "wherever they want", they will also "have to comply" with covid restrictions, such as maintaining a metre and a half away. "Let's be cautious. The pandemic is not over," warned Sàmper, who has claimed to "take steps towards freedom with great caution".

Despite this call, Sàmper has admitted that he is also working towards the reopening of nightlife in the next weeks. Before then he expects capacity and opening times for the cultural and hospitality sector will be extended. Sàmper has explained that this morning the Government has sent the Catalan High Court a proposal to keep the six-person limit on gatherings. As the state of alarm will be over, the judges' approval will be necessary.

"In Vic we would have had deaths"

Asked about the protests over Pablo Hasél's imprisonment, Sàmper has claimed that the assault on the police station in Vic "marked a turning point", as well as the burning of a van of the local police in Barcelona. "If the Manresa riot police had not arrived in Vic in 25 minutes we would have had deaths," said Sàmper, who added that a group of 150 people threw stones, fences and bins, among other objects, against the glass facade of the police station inside which there were 17 officers and a woman with her lawyer reporting domestic abuse that had to take refuge in prison. Sàmper stated that "the glass was about to give way", which is why it has now been decided that it should be changed for bulletproof glass and that there will be public order equipment in all police stations.

He has attributed "the degree of violence" of those days to the "pandemic fatigue", which has led to "a great crisis of the principle of authority" of police officers. As for public order equipment, Sàmper has assured that "no system will be liked". "Horses in the UK kill people when they run amok. Pressurised water cannons, if they hit someone on the head or thorax, kill people. In France, pepper spray has caused deaths of people with lung or heart problems. Foam and rubber balls don't kill but they can cause serious injuries," he said. The minister concluded that "if public order has to be re-established, sooner or later it will end up having a negative consequence, there is always this risk".

On the pardon of political prisoners, Sàmper has asked the president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, that "they would have to happen automatically", as well as the reform of the crime of sedition in the Penal Code. He added that he thinks that the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg "will agree with" the two private votes of the Constitutional Court judges that believe the sentence "disproportionate". On the negotiations to form a government, the minister has advanced his predisposition to validate the proposal that JxCat will submit to its members to vote on.