Unionist parties criticize police incorporation into Spain intelligence body

The pending incorporation of the Catalan police into Spain's Centre of Intelligence against Terrorism and Organized Crime (CITCO) has been met with criticism by (some) unionist forces.

It was one of the main agreements reached between the Catalan and Spanish executives during a key summit on security held on Thursday.

The move will allow better communication on matters of safety in the country, especially with the sharing of intelligence on terrorism and other serious crimes. But the matter of Catalan and Spanish police forces' jurisdiction in the country remains a hot topic of debate.

"A trap"

Spain "has fallen into a trap" set by president Quim Torra, said the leader of the People's Party in Catalonia (PP,) Xavier García Albiol. He lambasted the Sánchez administration for being willing to "kneel" before pro-independence forces in order to remain in power.

Albiol, whose party has four seats in the chamber, called the coming incorporation a "humiliation" for Spain.

The leader of the opposition in Catalonia, Ciutadans' Inés Arrimadas, is also against the move. She reprehended Spain's interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska for stating that the Catalan government is "loyal" to the Spanish administration.

Now Spain is to deploy 600 members of its police force in Catalonia in the run-up to the country's National Day, when pro-independence supporters are expected to take to the streets in force in a mass demonstration.

Grande-Marlaska said people should not be "alarmed" by the operation, stating that around 2,000 officers are mobilized whenever there is a big football match.

"Absolute disloyalty"

Catalonia's interior minister Miquel Buch said that transferring Spanish police officers to the country for its National Day is an "absolute disloyalty" as it is not necessary for them to carry out tasks that shouldn't be up to them.

In an interview with Catalunya Ràdio, Buch made it clear that if there is an invasion of powers by Spain, the government "will face it and will denounce it where necessary." He also highlighted that it is taking place as the one year anniversary for the independence referendum approaches.

Spain's former government sent up to 6,000 of its police in order to prevent the vote from taking place.

The operation cost 87 million euros. More than 1,000 people injured due to Spanish police violence, sparked outrage in the pro-independence bloc.

Police controversy

The role of the Catalan police, the Mossos d'Esquadra, during last year's independence referendum was put in the spotlight when the former Spanish government accused them of not doing enough to stop the vote being carried out.

The former police chief Josep Lluís Trapero was summoned to the Spanish National Court, accused at the time of facilitating the vote by not ordering a sufficient response to the referendum.

After imposing direct rule in Catalonia, the Rajoy executive dismissed Trapero as police chief.  Just over a week after the referendum, the Mossos d'Esquadra also lost its exclusive powers at the Palace of Justice. They had to share security duties with Spanish police as well.