Catalonia’s police force divided and demoralized

With the Spanish government ready to take over the running of Catalonia on Friday, the loyalty of the local police to Madrid or to the Catalan cause will be tested if they are ordered to drag their former political masters from office. Spanish police provoked international outcry by using batons and rubber bullets when they stepped in to try to stop an illegal independence referendum on Oct. 1 after the local Catalan force refused to prevent voting in what has become the worst constitutional crisis in modern Spanish history.

Catalonia’s secessionist government is intent on resisting Spain’s plan to remove it from power, and there are doubts over how a divided and demoralized Mossos d’Esquadra, as the Catalan police are called, would respond if ordered to evict President Carles Puigdemont and his autonomous government by force. National police could once again be on the front line. The local police force is riven by distrust between those for and against Catalan independence and is estranged from Spain’s national police forces, according to interviews with Mossos officers and national police.

The Civil Guard gave evidence against the Mossos chief in a sedition inquiry after his force stood back and allowed voting to take place, court documents show. Five Mossos officers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they believed the 17,000strong force was split among those who wanted independence and those who opposed it, with three of those saying they would not use force to remove ministers and lawmakers from power.

“I’m not going to use force and beat people with my baton if they are passive,” said a 15-year Mossos veteran and secessionist, who declined to be named. He said many others felt the same, but added: “I would have to obey it. My family has to eat.” A Mossos spokeswoman said the force was neutral and not subject to any “political or ideological criteria”. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is intent on thwarting the latest bid for independence by Catalonia, which has 16 percent of the Spanish population but generates 19 percent of the country’s economic output, to avoid what he believes will bring economic and social turmoil to the heart of the eurozone.

Chain of command Officers told Reuters there was also an anti-independence faction in the Mossos d’Esquadra, “Lads’ Squad” in Catalan, which uses an encrypted chat app to share views on independence versus allegiance to Madrid. In a bid to impose its authority the Madrid government will replace the Mossos senior leadership, but the question is whether this will be enough to ensure the force’s loyalty. The Mossos stance will have a powerful influence on the 7.5 million Catalans as the force has deep roots in Catalan society, having emerged from citizen militias in the 18th century.

The Mossos’ reputation was enhanced by its handling of an August van attack in Barcelona which killed 14 people. Rajoy will seek Senate approval on Friday to take the unprecedented step of assuming central control of Catalonia, including its government and the running of Mossos. The strategy will replace the Mossos leadership, including its two senior officers and 23 commissioners, and route the chain of command to a national police commander, yet to be appointed, who will report to the interior ministry, officials in Madrid and a Catalan police union said. —Reuters