They have been explaining it for days, but some media ignore it and continue to spread information with little verification. The head of the Mossos (Catalan police), Josep Lluís Trapero, visibly tired by the diverse speculations — and accusations — that keep appearing in some media, today insisted on El Matí programme on Catalunya Ràdio, that "the Belgian police never warned about anything, they only asked about a man of whom the Mossos did not have any data".
Trapero wanted to clarify many of the speculations that some newspapers have considered true, such as, for example, that "we knew very little about the imam of Ripoll, not to say practically anything at all, only his first name" and he recalled that precisely for the Mossos it "does not go well with regards the distribution of information" because it "does not flow" towards the corps. "I do not know if the Belgian police elevated the consultation and if the National Police intervened in it," he clarified.
However, the head of the Mossos showed caution when he said "it would be unfair to say that if we'd had the information then we would have avoided the attack", but he also complained about the "critical judgement about the Mossos activity without questioning the sources".
Left on the sideline
After both the Unified Association of the Civil Guard (AUGC) and the Unified Police Trade Union (SUP) criticised the Mossos for, according to them, blocking access for TEDAX (bomb disposal) to the house in Alcanar after the explosion, Trapero wanted to make it very clear that at no moment did the Civil Guard ask for the incorporation of its explosive specialists in the Alcanar investigation.
Therefore, it would not have been the Catalan police that left the Civil Guard corps on the sideline. But what did remain on the sideline was a lot of information. In this sense, Trapero regretted that "the state does not recognise our abilities and neither do we have relationships with intelligence agencies like the CIA", as well as that "the Mossos are not aware of any investigation by Spain's Ministry of the Interior about imams".
Precisely for all this, the head of the Mossos has asked to not "criminalize" the police and has questioned if "the police can be demanded to detect something that even their parents can't detect"?
Speculations
Continuing with the speculations now, however, about how the attack might have been if the material had not exploded at the house in Alcanar, Trapero emphasised that, although he "will not be explicit about the continuing investigation because we have to be very careful with the information", "nobody has confirmed that they wanted to attack the Sagrada Familia", but he confirmed that "we know that they wanted to carry out a different attack".
Proud of the work done, even though he has avoided giving praise out of respect for the seriousness of the events, the head of the Mossos has assured that "the Mossos who shot the terrorist did the best that they knew and resolved the situation in the best possible manner" and he regretted that "every time that the corps acts, there appears to be a series of criticisms that we do not see in other cases" because he considers it is "something to do with the Mossos that the people are able to walk calmly".