The Mossos d'Esquadra identified or reported 76 teachers during education strikes across Catalonia between 11 February and 20 March. This information comes from a parliamentary response by Interior Minister Núria Parlon to questions from the CUP party, accessed by Nació Digital.

Most identifications or reports followed road closures organised by teachers. However, the Catalan police admit no violent incidents occurred in any of these cases. Many police reports were for "not communicating the demonstration" or road closure.

Minister Parlon also stated that no established criteria exist for accepting or denying road closures. "The General Directorate of Police has notified that there is no specific document that collects the criteria by which the Generalitat Police, Mossos d'Esquadra, allows or denies road closures," Parlon said. She clarified that decisions are based on the "assumptions" of "state regulations on public safety," meaning a road closure can be prohibited if it risks public safety.

Police Actions Across Catalonia

The state regulations "enable agents of the security forces and bodies to restrict circulation or permanence on public roads when there are assumptions of alteration of public safety or rational indications that they may occur," Parlon added. The detailed response on police actions during the education strikes only specifies one case of identification for "serious public disorder," with a corresponding administrative report, which happened in Sant Quirze del Vallès due to a C-58 road closure.

Barcelona was a key focus for police actions. The city hosted the unified demonstration on 11 February, which included road closures, and saw significant disruption on 20 March during the final week of strikes. According to data from Minister Parlon, protests in Barcelona resulted in ten people reported and 27 identified.

Most of these identifications were for closures on Barcelona's ring roads. No teachers were identified or reported during uncommunicated demonstrations in the city centre, such as columns of students from institutes heading to the main union gathering. In Barcelona, two administrative reports were filed: one for "graffiti" on 11 February and another for "throwing firecrackers at police officers" on 20 March. A temporary intervention report was also filed for pyrotechnics found on a minor during the 11 February mobilisation.

Vilafranca del Penedès Incident

Beyond road closures and large city demonstrations, the parliamentary response also highlighted an incident at the Milà i Fontanals Institute School in Vilafranca del Penedès on 17 March. Minister Parlon explained that "several demonstrators locked themselves in from the night of 16 March to the morning of 17 March, and at 7:40am they called the rest of the demonstrators for a hot chocolate event and a parade through the city." The institute's entrances were also secured with cable ties and a chain, which was later broken "in front of the media."

In response, Catalan police identified four teachers "as responsible for the teachers' lock-in, the concentration, and the subsequent demonstration to the coaches," alleging these events were not communicated. However, the Mossos' southern police region noted that no one was reported for these actions.

Identifications or reports by police region were distributed as follows:

  • Barcelona: 37
  • Metropolitan South Region: 15
  • Metropolitan North Region: 8
  • Ponent: 8
  • Camp de Tarragona: 5
  • Terres de l'Ebre: 2
  • Girona: 1

Police Under Scrutiny

The Interior Department and the Mossos d'Esquadra are currently under media scrutiny due to recent events related to the education crisis. This includes a pilot plan to introduce plainclothes officers into schools and allegations of police infiltration into a Barcelona teachers' assembly preparing for future strikes. While the Interior Department has not explicitly confirmed the infiltrations, it implicitly acknowledged them in a statement published on Friday.

The statement claimed that the "General Information Commissioner's Office (CGINF) is legally assigned specific functions of collecting and processing operational information related to labour and social conflict." This is done to conduct a "threat and risk assessment," according to the department.

The alleged infiltration of two plainclothes officers into an assembly at the Pau Claris Institute has worsened the discontent among education strike unions and led to political repercussions. ERC and Comuns, preferred partners of Illa, along with the CUP, have demanded the dismissal of police director general Josep Lluís Trapero. They have also called for his appearance before the Catalan parliament, alongside Minister Parlon and Education Minister Esther Niubó. Junts has also requested explanations and the appearance of both ministers but has not taken a position on Trapero's dismissal.