Catalan police: interior minister denies political interference amid opposition criticism

The Catalan interior minister Miquel Buch has denied any political interference in the Mossos d’Esquadra, Catalonia’s own police body, thus putting down claims from opposition parties that the government ordered officers to be lenient with pro-independence protesters.

The Mossos found themselves in the political crossfire following a surge of demonstrations in recent days. While Buch and even president Quim Torra criticized the police body for cracking down on antifascist protesters and leaving several injured, the blocking of major highways by pro-independence supporters sparked criticism among unionist parties, who claimed the police body should have stopped them from disrupting traffic.

Torra is now coming out in support of the Mossos after the Spanish government threatened to deploy its own police officers in Catalonia, in order to guarantee public order ahead of a cabinet meeting to be held in Barcelona on December 21.