Manel Prat, the ex-director of the police who 'sells' the largest Catalan supermarket

Barcelona"When I leave there, my political career has been scorched," comments Manel Prat about his time as director general of the police. From 2011 to 2014, he held this position, at a time he admits was "socially turbulent," but "not as much" as that of his successors with the arrival of the Catalan independence process (Procés). Prat arrived young at the Generalitat, as head of institutional relations for the Department of Health in 2002 and later as chief of staff for Felip Puig, who, when he was Minister of the Interior, trusted him with one of the Government's most delicate portfolios, that of directing the Mossos (Catalan police). "You know where you're putting yourself and you do it with the utmost dignity," he explains.

Prat had to manage, for example, the Ester Quintana case, the demonstrator who lost an eye to a rubber bullet, or the death of businessman Juan Andrés Benítez during a police operation. "Public order is inherently conflictive, and they were very complex situations," he comments. He remembers that time with "very little private life," working every day, and accepts that it "changed his character." "Surely you would have done different things, but I am satisfied," he states.

His resignation came in 2014, and he intended to make a living in the private sector. "There are many outstanding issues, it's difficult with a loaded media baggage." He admits that it was not easy to find work and that in some selection processes he was discarded due to this baggage. For this reason, he says he is very grateful to Joan Font, owner of Bon Preu, the company where he has been head of the marketing and communication department for twelve years. He says he is "delighted with life".