The Catalan government has expressed full confidence in the Mossos d'Esquadra and its commanders following the infiltration of an agent from the General Information Commissariat into an assembly of Education Consortium and Barcelonès workers in Barcelona. The incident occurred days before a recent teachers' strike.
Government spokesperson Sílvia Paneque, a minister, avoided directly stating whether the government endorsed such infiltrations during a press conference after the executive council meeting. Paneque denied any political interference in the police operation, asserting that the police must act autonomously. "All decisions are made from an operational point of view," she said. "It is the police commanders who decide proportionality without any political directive. There must be essential autonomy."
According to the Mossos, the infiltration was due to a risk assessment in the context of the teachers' strike. They stated their functions and responsibilities always adhered to current legislation and assigned competencies. Interior Minister Núria Parlon is scheduled to appear in parliament tomorrow at 4:30pm to provide explanations and answer questions from parliamentary groups.
Government Defends Police Action
The government spokesperson explained that such police operations must be governed by criteria of opportunity and proportionality. Paneque added that a review should now assess whether these two criteria were met in this specific case, as Parlon had previously indicated.
The infiltration has caused significant unease and indignation within the educational community. Unions USTEC, CGT, and Intersindical have initiated legal action to ensure the infiltration does not go unpunished. They complain that the Mossos operation violated fundamental rights, including the right to assembly, the right to strike, and freedom of association. When asked about the issue, Minister Paneque simply stated, "The right to strike must be guaranteed; security-related actions must be proportional and opportune."
During recent protests, the Mossos have identified or reported more than seventy teachers, according to reports.
Fundamental Rights Questioned
Josep M. Vilajosana, a jurist and professor of legal philosophy, argues that the Mossos' infiltration of the teachers' assembly violates fundamental rights. He believes the operation raises significant constitutional objections.
In an article published in VilaWeb, Vilajosana maintains that at least three rights are potentially affected: freedom of association, the right to assembly, and the right to ideological and associative privacy.
Regarding freedom of association, he explained that the undercover presence of police in an assembly preparing for a strike could have a "demobilising effect" on union activity and create a perception of state monitoring. Concerning the right to assembly, the infiltration raises serious doubts about proportionality. "In this case, there is no open judicial investigation, nor evidence of violent crimes, nor any specific judicial authorisation, at least publicly," Vilajosana wrote.
On the right to ideological and associative privacy, he pointed out that collecting information about participants could indirectly affect the protection of particularly sensitive data, which is protected by both Spanish regulations and the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation.
Ivan Vázquez, a lawyer for USTEC, and Vilajosana both noted that both the Spanish Constitutional Court and the Spanish Supreme Court specify that infiltration must be highly justified for certain crimes, such as investigating criminal organisations, and only when there are indications of criminality.
