It's been another tense day in the Catalan Parliament between Ciutadans and the Catalan Ombudsman, who appeared this Wednesday to present his annual report for 2017. Under attacks from the unionist party, who accused him of being part of a "Committee for the Rebellion", Rafael Ribó countered that the accusations they "are repeating" about him "are based on ignorance or untruths".
Earlier, Cs had sent a letter to European ombudsmen denouncing Ribó for alleged bias. Today, the Catalan ombudsman announced to the chamber that he received a reply from Peter Tyndall, president of the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI). The response had arrived this Tuesday, and wasn't to Cs' liking.
In a letter addressed to Cs' Inés Arrimadas and Carlos Carrizosa, which El Nacional has seen, Tyndall specifically calls on the party to "take care when it comes to undertaking actions or making comments which could have the effect of threatening the independence of the office of the ombudsman".
At the start of the letter, Tyndall admits he's unsure if they're writing to him as Ireland's ombudsman or president of the IOI. He also notes that Ribó is the European president for the IOI and that the body "doesn't get involved in the internal political affairs of the countries where it has members". As such, he describes it as "inappropriate" for them to turn to him. Despite this, he says he will defend "any member facing threats".