catalan police

From Monday to Wednesday, there have been many demonstrations and small riots in Barcelona and other cities throughout Catalonia to protest against the eviction of the Can Vies squat, a social centre managed by associations and anarchist trade unions. The Can Vies squat was running since 1997 and it was a symbol among the alternative left and anti-system movements. It was occupying a small building owned by Barcelona’s Metropolitan Transport Authority (TMB), which had somehow tolerated the occupation of its facilities. However, since a few years ago the building has been affected by a town planning project. On Monday the Catalan Police started to empty Can Vies, after it had been paralysed for a long time by civil mobilisations. However, on Monday evening the building was finally emptied, bricked up and a bulldozer started to demolish it. This sparked the conflict. The Mayor of Barcelona, Xavier Trias, insisted he will not negotiate until the violence ends.

Manel Prat, General Director of the Mossos d’Esquadra – the Catalan police force – resigned on Tuesday evening “for personal reasons”. He took this step the day before the Catalan Green Socialist and post-Communist Coalition (ICV-EUiA) were due to file a request to the Catalan Parliament to hold a debate on his resignation. Prat took office in January 2011 and the Catalan Police has since been involved in a series of controversies related to the excessive use of force, which in some cases may have had grievous consequences, including demonstrators losing eyes from a rubber bullet and the death of individuals in police custody. Legal investigations are still ongoing and therefore formal sentences have not been issued in these cases, but there is much evidence to indicate that the Catalan Police’s actions are likely to have been out of order. On top of this, there have been many shadows cast on the Mossos’ internal investigations and disciplinary processes. However, Prat denied he was resigning because of these episodes.

Some 1,900 police officers, both from the Catalan Police Force (called Mossos d’Esquadra), and from the local polices of Barcelona and L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (Greater Barcelona), will ensure the safety of the 75,000 visitors expected to attend the Mobile World Congress, the main international event of the mobile-phone-related industry. This trade fair and conference takes place each year in Barcelona and the upcoming edition will run from the 24^th to the 27^th of February. With this safety reinforcement plan, plain-clothed police officers will be deployed in the pavilions of the Mobile World Congress, while the number of uniformed-police patrols will be increased to dissuade pickpockets. Furthermore, there will be more private security guards controlling the premises this year and a dedicated police station where attendees can report any loss or theft will be open all day long.

The Catalan Ministry of Home Affairs has constituted an Ethics Committee for the Catalan Police Force, called Mossos d’Esquadra. It will be chaired by Francesc Torralba, Director of Applied Ethics at Barcelona’s Ramon Llull University. The Ethics Committee was firstly created by the former Left-Wing Cabinet, when the Home Affairs Ministry was run by a Green Socialist (ICV-EUiA). However, it was suppressed in 2011 by his successor from the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU). Now, following recent scandals, such as the death of an arrestee, it has been restored. The Ethics Committee is made of ten members who have a non-renewable term of four years: five representatives of the police and home security are joined by five independent university professors in the field of law, ethics and sociology. Their first assignment will be drafting the Catalan Police’s new Code of Ethics.

Eight officers of the Catalan Police Force – called Mossos d’Esquadra – and two paramedics of the Catalan Emergency Services (SEM) have been indicted on Wednesday, following the death of a man while he was in custody. Last July, Yassir El Younoussi was arrested in El Vendrell for a threatening-authority felony. After a medical exam, El Younoussi was put into custody at the police station. According to the Catalan Police, due to his violent and agitated behaviour he was tied up with strips and forced to wear a helmet in order not to injure himself. He died a few hours later while still in custody at the police station. This case occurs a few weeks after another person died a few hours after the intervention of the Catalan Police in Barcelona’s Raval neighbourhood. In fact, this Wednesday, a tenth police officer has been indicted for the Raval case.

The judge investigating the death of a man a few hours after his arrest in Barcelona by the Catalan Police has decided to indict a 9^th officer related to this case. On the 4^th November, 8 Catalan Police officers were indicted and suspended from active service for physical aggression - which might have caused the arrestee’s death, trying to destroy evidence and consequently obstructing justice. The 9^th officer is indicted for having allegedly cleaned up remains of blood on the street after the victim’s arrest, obstructing the judicial investigation. However, the Catalan Home Affairs Ministry has not suspended this 9^th policeman, as the charges “are not so severe” as for the other 8 officers who actively participated in the arrest, but has decided to transfer him to another police station.

The extensive Catalan Police operation against drug trafficking in Barcelona’s Zona Franca quarter and in Sant Adrià de Besós’ (North of Barcelona) ‘La Mina’ neighbourhood resulted in 33 arrests and 29 homes searched. With 300 police officers deployed from 7 different police areas, this operation was the largest-ever made by the Catalan Government’s police corps in terms of officers deployed. Catalan Minister for Home Affairs, Ramon Espadaler, stated that further arrests could still be announced in the following days. The investigation leading to this operation had begun in December 2012.

Eight officers of the Catalan Police have been indicted by the judge and consequently temporarily suspended from active service by the Catalan Government, it was announced on Monday. The 8 policemen are suspected of beating up a middle-aged man while they were arresting him, causing his death, trying to destroy evidence and obstructing justice, according to the judicial report. The victim – gay businessman Juan Andrés Benítez – died a few hours after his arrest from a heart attack, allegedly provoked by 5 punches received on his head during his arrest. The case has generated significant controversy, since it is not the first time that Catalan Police have been involved in a violent abuse scandal. At the same time, the Spanish Police were requested to act as judiciary police and issue an investigation report on the facts.

The Spanish National Police has allocated more than half of its recently graduated agents to be sent to Catalonia. Of the 418 that passed the police training this year, 231 are destined to work in Catalonia, a figure which represents 55% of the total. The Director General of the Spanish Police, Ignacio Cosidó, stated how these figures show that the force “has a strong willingness to remain in Catalonia”. He also added that the Spanish Government prioritises security within Catalonia. However, the Catalan Police, called the Mossos d’Esquadra, has the majority of police power in Catalonia, except customs control and the fight against international and organised crime. In the rest of Spain – except the Basque Country – Spanish Police does the majority of the police work.

The ice melting from the mountain tops and the heavy rain episodes of the last 24 hours have caused flooding of the Garonne, Noguera Pallaresa, Noguera de Cardós and other rivers in the mountain counties of the Val d’Aran, Pallars Sobirà, Alta Ribagorça and north of Pallars Jussà. More than 300 people have been evacuated from their homes in flooded or at risk areas. No victims or missing people have been reported, but material damage is considerable. Bridges have been swallowed by the waters and some roads have partially collapsed since the land beneath them has been swept away by the flood. Road access to the Val d’Aran County was closed as a precaution. Rain is expected to continue during the night and the reservoirs are overflowing because they have reached their maximum capacity.

The use of rubber bullets by the Catalan Police is at the centre of a fierce social and political debate. The Catalan Parliament has recently decided to create a commission in order to discuss the methods used by riot police, which is expected to take place at the beginning of April. This kind of ammunition in Catalonia has allegedly caused the loss of an eye and sight loss to 8 people over the last three years and heart necrosis to a man. All sides in this conflict will be consulted in the parliamentary debate and a quick process is expected in order to respond to increasing public concern regarding this method.

Just a few years ago writing a message with the mobile phone meant exchanging short and important information with a few words. Today however, there are youngsters, especially girls, writing about 300 messages every day. Thanks to WhatsApp or similar apps, this is now possible. The use of this kind of smartphone applications seems to get more and more addictive in some population groups. Furthermore, they can bring a dangerous risk: instead of exchanging simple information, these apps can be used to control the movements of partners by young users. Changes in behaviour are becoming alarming and can lead to scarred relationships.

Police estimate that 150 pickpockets operate daily in the Catalan capital’s underground, smart phones being the main target. The way the pickpockets target their victims has changed, no longer operating in large groups meaning that they are more “discreet and difficult to stop”. The police report that pickpockets are mainly “recurrent” and mainly come from South America, North Africa and Romania. The situation is evolving in a positive way, with crime rates in Barcelona’s metro decreasing for the second consecutive year.

Despite initial fears of violent incidents the European Central Bank’s Governing Council meeting has been held peacefully. 8,000 police officers guarded the event by literally occupying the city. Besides, the ‘indignados’ movement demobilized their forces, and no anti-system protests took place.

The Spanish boss of public prosecutors, Eduardo Torres-Dulce, says it is crucial to analyse if current procedural tools are enough to guarantee fundamental rights and public order. Therefore, he asked not to make legal changes in the heat of the moment.