The educational community and a large part of the parliamentary groups of the Parliament of Catalonia are up in arms over the infiltration of two Mossos d’Esquadra agents in a teachers’ assembly held on Wednesday. Initially, the force, through its X account, limited itself to saying that it works to “guarantee the free right of assembly and demonstration” and that it carries out its functions and responsibilities “always complying with current legislation and according to the powers assigned to it.” Later, from the general directorate of the Catalan police, they issued a statement arguing that the General Commissariat of Information has specific functions of information gathering assigned by law, implicitly acknowledging the presence of the agents at the meeting.
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The assembly in question took place last Wednesday afternoon, the day new protest actions began – scheduled by the unions Ustec, Professors de Secundària (Aspepc-sps), CGT, and the Intersindical – following the agreement reached between the Government and the unions CC.OO. and UGT to strengthen inclusive schooling and improve the salaries of educational agents. The meeting place was the Pau Claris institute in Barcelona, where the intention was to discuss the actions to be carried out on strike days.
At the meeting, there were not only representatives of the different unions but also workers, explains Iolanda Segura, spokesperson for Ustec, to this newspaper. Segura recounts that in this type of meeting, participants usually introduce themselves at the beginning. And that’s when the alarms went off.
“When it was the turn for two women present to introduce themselves, they did not know what to say.” And not only that. According to Segura, someone recognized them as Mossos agents from having seen them at previous demonstrations.
Those present wanted to investigate further and asked them to specify which institute they worked at, to which they responded the Riera Alta school, in Santa Coloma de Gramenet (Barcelona). The problem, according to Segura, is that there was a teacher from that center at the meeting who denied knowing them, so both were invited to leave the place.
The unions claim that later they were able to identify them as Mossos agents. Specifically – says Segura – from the General Commissariat of Information.
The force relies on the law
The statement issued by the general directorate of the Catalan police seems to give them reason. In it, the force argues that the General Commissariat of Information (Cginf) has assigned by law, specifically by article 109 of the structure decree of the General Directorate of Police, “specific functions of gathering and processing operational information related to labor and social conflict.”
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The explicit objective of these functions – the statement continues – is to be able to carry out an assessment of threats and risks. “This is not a discretionary decision of the police force: it is the fulfillment of a regulatory obligation,” the text reads. And it adds: these functions are included in the current structure decree approved in 2023 and were also present in the previous one, from 2011.
Parliamentary uproar
The statement concludes by assuring that the Mossos d’Esquadra respect and defend the right of assembly, strike, and union freedom in the same way they respect “the rest of individual and collective rights.” And that they have “the legal obligation to guarantee them all as well as public safety.” Hence, they show themselves “available to the parliamentary groups” to explain their actions.
Indeed, opposition groups requested appearances in the Parliament of the Interior Minister, Núria Parlon; the Education Minister, Esther Niubó; and the director of the Mossos d’Esquadra, Josep Lluís Trapero.
Dismissed by the Illa Government
Criticism from the former head of the Mossos
The criticism has not only rained down on the Government from the Parliament. The former head of the Mossos, Eduard Sallent, on leave after being dismissed by Salvador Illa’s Executive, criticized in a message on X the “infiltration” of the Mossos as it was not “properly” planned and is also not a “good option” because it can “erode” trust with the public.
For its part, the Federation of Public Security Professionals (FEPOL) has attacked Sallent, calling his comment “opportunistic, irresponsible, and gratuitous,” considering his former position as leader of the Mossos and senior intelligence officer.
In light of these events, Iolanda Segura believes it is possible that this was not the first infiltration. “We have held many assemblies.” She even points out that the Government’s pilot plan to introduce plainclothes Mossos in institutes to reduce conflict could have the same objective. “We no longer know what to think, we distrust everything. Maybe the plan is also to obtain information,” she concludes.
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