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SPAIN has sacked the chief of Catalan’s regional police force as Madrid attempts to block the region’s push for independence. The official government gazette said the Spanish government has sacked the operational chief of Catalan's regional police force, Josep Lluis Trapero.
There have been doubts over how the Mossos d'Esquadra, as the Catalan police are called, would respond if ordered to evict sacked leader Carles Puigdemont and his government. The regional police force also urged its members to behave in a neutral manner and not takes sides in the dispute in an internal note seen by Reuters.
Trapero became a hero to the secessionists after his force took a much softer stance than national police in enforcing a government ban on an independence referendum on October 1. The force is riven by distrust between those for and against independence and is estranged from Spain's national police forces, according to sources. The Madrid government dismissed the Catalan government, took over the administration and called a new election after the region declared independence on Friday.
The internal memo read: "Given that there is it is likely to be an increase in gatherings and rallies of citizens in all the territory and that there are people of different thoughts, we must remember that it is our responsibility to guarantee the security of all and help these to take place without incident." Trapero's dismissal was signed off by Spanish Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido. Spain's High Court last week banned Trapero from leaving Spain and seized his passport as part of an investigation for alleged sedition, although it did not order his arrest. Prosecutors say he failed to give orders to rescue national police trapped inside a Barcelona building during pro-independence protests last month.
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