The charges by the Mossos d'Esquadra police which took place on Saturday in central Barcelona against Catalan independence groups were disproportionate and, from what people have been able to see in many of the images circulating, they were unjustifiable. For the incidents to have taken place just before the 1st October, the anniversary of the independence referendum, when everybody had been warned that such images would be a heavy blow right now, is an unpleasant piece of news which now requires the Catalan authorities to give explanations, a step which up till now hasn't been needed. These should be given in parliament if required, as well. Once this has been done, there will no way anyone can use the matter to try and blur the barbaric acts of a year ago, which ended up with a total of more than 1,000 people needing medical assistance.
Having said that, four reflections. First: the authorities should have listened to the legal associations who called for a ban on the march aimed at honouring the actions by Spanish police on 1st October 2017. The march was not only a genuine provocation of the more than two million people who voted, but as well, authorizing it to celebrate the violence used against the Catalan public was extremely stupid. That the official reason for the march cited labour issues of the Spanish security forces is no excuse.
Second: if they did not want to go as far as prohibiting the march, the location assigned for it did not have to be a matter of metres from Plaça Sant Jaume and the adjacent streets, but in another part of the city altogether, where there would be no chance for the police demonstration called by their Jusapol union to come into contact with other rallies.
Third: I will hold back from criticizing the Catalan Mossos police action heavily because I don't understand it and I assume that they were attempting to do the best they could. However, the result was not good, and unnecessary, reprehensible police charges against peaceful citizens took place.
Fourth: the Catalan government should not remain silent after what happened. That is never the best path. And in this case, it certainly isn't.