In Barcelona, deputy mayor Laia Bonet has asked Junts to restore support for allowing Guàrdia Urbana officers to carry Tasers, according to an interview reported by betevé. The issue matters for the city because it affects how local officers respond to violent incidents, mental health crises and other high-risk situations.
There is no new approval yet. Any change would need backing at City Hall before it could alter police practice in Barcelona, so the immediate impact is political rather than operational. Readers following the wider local agenda can keep an eye on our news page.
Bonet, whose role at Barcelona City Council is listed on the official municipal organisation chart, said Tasers are already used by other local police forces and by the Mossos d'Esquadra, Catalonia's regional police. According to betevé, Barcelona's Guàrdia Urbana does not currently carry them.
"It is a working tool that other local police forces and the Mossos d'Esquadra have," Bonet said, as reported by betevé. Her comments reopen a sensitive debate at City Hall, where any move to equip officers with Tasers would need political support and clear rules on use.
The Guàrdia Urbana is Barcelona's municipal police service. It handles traffic, public order support, local enforcement and joint operations with other forces, according to the official Guàrdia Urbana website. That means any decision on Tasers would affect frontline policing in Barcelona, not just a council discussion.
The Catalan interior department approved a protocol for local police forces' use of electric stun guns in 2018, according to the department's official announcement. The framework was intended to regulate training, handling and deployment by local forces across Catalonia, which places the Barcelona debate within an existing legal and operational framework.
Support for Tasers is not universal. A mental health collective has published a position paper opposing Barcelona City Council's purchase of the devices, arguing that they raise risks in interventions involving people in distress or crisis. The wider discussion also reaches beyond Barcelona, with the Parliament of Catalonia having debated electric stun guns in relation to the Mossos d'Esquadra, according to the parliamentary bulletin cited in the source material.
