It is "by far the most complicated summer in recent years" due to "the perception of the absence of authority on the part of certain groups of citizens" which has caused police actions, mainly at night to evacuate crowds, are more complicated by the violence suffered by agents. This is how the Union of the Autonomous Police of Catalonia (USPAC) considers it, which has demanded from the General Directorate of the Generalitat Police a "firm and rapid response" to the increase in attacks on police officers when they act in 'bottles' or other interventions related to the curfew when it was in force in Catalonia or compliance with the control measures for covid infections.

Several unions of the Mossos d'Esquadra and the Guardia Urbana have denounced the growth "exponentially" towards the agents this summer during the evictions. The episodes of throwing bottles and other objects when the police acted in these concentrations, as seen during the Gracia and Sants festivities in recent nights, are repeated in other Catalan municipalities on a smaller scale, according to the spokesman of the main union of Mossos SAP-Fepol, Toni Castejón, who adds that the crowds are "uncontrollable" but that in some Catalan towns, local agents are received with hostility by dozens of people.

For USPAC there is a "wave of violence and lack of respect" towards the agents that has worsened this summer in which the nightclubs are closed and people tend towards the 'bottle'. The mixture of alcohol, the concentration of many people in specific spaces, such as squares or the beach, and the police duty to comply with health regulations, such as the curfew when it was in force, becomes an explosive cocktail that ends in confrontations against authority, agent charges and tumultuous careers.

That is why Castejón points out that it is "an almost impossible action" before thousands of people with the available police force. In this sense, he recalls that for an intervention last week in Sitges with some 600 people concentrated in a 'bottle' there was only one Mossos van from the operational units. "Preventive work is needed, such as assuming the burdens. It is a lack of control", adds the SAP-Fepol spokesman who recalls that the Department of the Interior opened a bag of hours for agents during the curfew, and thus reinforce security by the night. However, he again demanded improvements in material for the agents and training since law enforcement personnel are used for these evictions.

The USPAC also demanded that the Department of the Interior "defend its police without complexes above all the pacts and political cabals" for which they urged to activate the "legal defense service, so as to ensure its presence in all the courts of Catalonia 365 days a year in defense of any aggression suffered by a Mossos agent ".

They also asked to reinforce the weekend units and during specific 'bottle' days as well as one-person cameras and helmets.

Sants LORENA SOPENA Festivities

A social problem

The spokesman for the majority union of the Urban Guard SAPOL, Jordi Rodríguez Lima, pointed out that the operations are "exceeded" in these eviction actions but he distributes the blame. On the one hand, it points out to the Government for not approving clear regulations regarding nightlife that supports police action and that of city councils to apply measures that guarantee the control of health risks due to the pandemic. "We act in the street for the safety of all," said Rodríguez Lima, who also considers that "society has lost control."

"Now there are no values ​​or respect for the police, or for any authority," explains the SAPOL spokesman who recalls that "going to a party does not have to lead to a confrontation with the agents." In addition, he assures that there is also the economic problem of people who go out to have fun and who do not spend the same in a 'bottle' as in entertainment venues. In this sense, he points out that there are not only young people but also people of all ages consuming on the street. As if they weren't enough to act in front of crowded groups, Rodríguez Lima points out that the police have an added problem, which is that any intervention is recorded by numerous mobile phones to capture any "police mistake." "It is a complicated way of working,since it conditions any action to know that they control you like this, "he adds.

The CSIF union also points to the important work of night shift agents and the Urbana Guard anti-riot unit in the Gracia and Sants parties, not only with the performances in 'bottles' but also in illegal parties in flats and local. However, they charge against the "mismanagement that is being carried out by the municipal government" due to the lack of material and personnel and recall that they are thrown "blunt objects" in the evictions "that can cause us very serious injuries."

The CSIF Organization Secretary, Eugenio Zambrano, urged the Barcelona government team to reinforce "the legislation to protect the police more" since he considers that their lack of tendency to "frivolize or feed an anti-police sentiment" causes "to debit each day more the public security system and place policemen at a high risk of suffering aggression or humiliation. " Thus they believe that the 'bottles' should not be "socially normalized" as pointed out by the City Council since it generates problems of coexistence and security in the public space and increases infections. The union is in favor of opening nightlife venues in the city since "it is easier for the administrative police to control the operation and compliance with the rules"in these establishments.

Loads in Sants

The latest episodes of violence against the police could be seen last morning at the Sants festivities when a group of people threw objects at the Mossos and Guardia Urbana agents who were trying to break into the Espanya Industrial park.

Thousands of people gathered there to drink without social distance and many without a mask.

There were police charges and several groups could be seen running away when the police arrived.

Some non-activists moved rubbish containers to use as barricades in the throwing of objects and vandalism has been recorded, such as broken glass in cars and shops.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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