The AUGC (Unified Association of Civil Guards) and the SUP (Unified Union of Policeman) have today denounced what they consider to be an "exclusion" and an "isolation" Security Forces and Corps of the Spanish state in the investigation into the jihadist attacks committed in Catalonia. In their opinion, this and the "weakness" of Spanish politicians and institutions have given the image of a "self-sufficient Catalan state".
In a joint press statement (in Spanish), the main organisations of the Security Forces and Corps of the State, after their support for the work of the Mossos (Catalan police), denounce "the exclusion and the isolation suffered" by the Civil Guard and the National Police "during the investigation into and management of the attacks".
"Once more the weakness of the institutions and political leaders of our country has meant that the experience and the nation-wide structure of the Police and the Civil Guard in the area of the anti-terrorist fight have been wilfully left out of the investigation," they say.
“Self-sufficient Catalan state”
They add that this "with a single objective, that of transmitting an image beyond our borders of a self-sufficient Catalan State, using public safety for this without any kind of objection and assuming as such the errors and consequences that this practice could lead to".
They specifically refer to the "blocking of access to the TEDAX (Technical Specialists in the Deactivation of Explosive Artefacts) team of the Civil Guard to the house in Alcanar after the explosion".
They also mention the "ignorance on the part of the Catalan authorities of the fact that the imam of Ripoll was a disciple of one of the main suspects arrested in the National Police's 2007 'Chacal I' operation against jihadist terrorism".
According to the AUGC and SUP this all "makes evident once again the flagrant breach of the cooperation agreements as well as the deficient operation of the communication mechanisms between the Security Forces and Corps of our country".
Support of the Mossos
In any case, SUP and AUGC reiterate their support for the work carried out by the Mossos d'Esquadra, "who have risked their own lives to protect those of the public".
"Because of precisely that a joint action which doesn't push aside the solvency and experience of the Security Forces and Corps of the state, disregarded on this occasion at the expense of public safety, is made more necessary", they conclude.