Catalonia's Mossos d'Esquadra police are still investigating the incident that took place on Wednesday at lunchtime, in the city of Ampolla (Baix Ebre county), affecting the former speaker of the Catalan Parliament, Laura Borràs. The president of the pro-independence Together for Catalonia (Junts) party was taking part in a European election campaign lunch with party members from the Terres de l'Ebre area on a bar terrace when a woman in her 70s approached her from behind and threw water from an ice bucket towards her back. The woman, who was identified by police, called her "corrupt", in a reference to the conviction for document falsification she received last year from the Catalan High Court, and also "indepe de merda" - equivalent to "separatist shit". The complaint against the woman, presented by ex-president Borràs at the nearest police station, in Ametlla de Mar, plus the inquiries made by the Catalan police, should serve to clarify the facts. The incident, in which Borràs was not injured, will not be considered a hate crime and will be investigated as a minor crime of harassment or ill-treatment without injury.
Mossos' Information Unit takes over case
The Information Unit of the Mossos police region for the Terres de l'Ebre took statements from Borràs and some of her party colleagues present at the lunch, as well as from two women: one who threw the water and verbally abused Borràs, and another who was her friend. As ElNacional.cat has learned, these two women were not having lunch at the restaurant where Borràs and other pro-independence political activists were dining; rather, they learned that the event was taking place, a lunch with Junts members in the south of Catalonia, and travelled to the restaurant, where one of the women yelled abuse at Borràs and threw water at her back from the bucket. However, the woman didn't make any other move to make the fellow party members think - or, at the moment, the Mossos - that she wanted to carry out any further physical aggression against the former speaker of Parliament.
The Mossos are trying to find out what led the woman, who did not need to be detained, to throw water at Laura Borràs during this lunch with party members from the Terres de l'Ebre. For the moment, it is not known whether the woman has any relationship with any far-right or Spanish nationalist group, or whether she was known for having strong views against Borràs's party or against Catalan independence.
Judge could close the investigation
Although the Mossos have still to deliver the full incident report to the judge who will investigate whether there is a crime, the Mossos are investigating the matter as a minor case of harassment crime and an alleged hate crime has been ruled out, for now, after being spoken of as possible by people close to Borràs in the first moments after the incident. According to the information collected so far, if the judge opens proceedings on the case, he could treat it as a crime of minor harassment or even a crime of physical ill-treatment without injury. The report notes that the former speaker was not injured and the incident caused no damage. In any case, the Catalan police consider it a minor incident, without any physical risk to the former speaker. The duty court in the southern Catalonia town will have to decide on whether to continue with proceedings or close the case.
Messages of support
Messages of support for Borràs, from both Junts and other parties in the Parliament of Catalonia, were published after the news of the incident spread on Wednesday. The Catalan Socialist candidate for the presidency of Catalonia, Salvador Illa, sent his support to Laura Borràs after "the aggression" she suffered. The acting Catalan vice-president, Laura Vilagrà, of ERC, also sent a public message of support to the former speaker of Parliament. The current speaker of Parliament, Anna Erra, of Junts, declared her "absolute condemnation of these inadmissible actions and full support and solidarity" with the former speaker.