The senior public prosecutor of Catalonia, José María Romero de Tejada, met today with the head of the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police), Josep Lluís Trapero, to inform him that they were removing his powers.
The Spanish Interior ministry intends to apply article 38.2 of the Law of the Security Forces and Corps that allows for taking over the police force even though it has full powers in its territory. Trapero was already told of this last Thursday in a meeting with the public prosecutor also attended by Diego Pérez de los Cobos, head of the coordination cabinet within the Secretariat of State of the Interior ministry. This latter is a career civil guard and the number three in the ministry.
The Mossos, therefore, will now be directed by and respond to the orders of a high-ranking officer of Spain's Civil Guard.
An oral order to this effect is believed to have been given in the first meeting on Thursday, but Trapero asked for it to be put in writing directly from Pérez de los Cobos.
Interior ministry sources earlier today confirmed the meeting but still didn't want to confirm that the Mossos' powers were being taken away.
The ministry's version
In a statement, the Interior ministry denies that it's removing the Mossos' powers and says it's a coordination mechanism.
"This doesn't mean the withdrawal of any power from the Mossos d'Esquadra, the same as they aren't withdrawn either from the Civil Guard or the National Police Corps, it simply agrees this coordination mechanism which, essentially, is the same as the one with which the Mossos d'Esquadra were entrusted with the actions following the attack in Barcelona and Cambrils and nobody thought that that attacked any other police corps or public institution."
The ministry turns to the large demonstrations that took place last week after the Civil Guard searches of Catalan government buildings and the arrests of government officials, to reinforce the public order presence.
"In light of the events that took place last week and in front of the evidence that it's necessary to reinforce the police presence for preventing crime and maintaining public order, in application of article 38.2 of Law 2/86 of Forces and Corps of Security, the public prosecutor requests a reinforcement of such plans and entrusts its coordination to the Secretariat of State of Security".
Who do the Mossos have to obey?
The agents always have to pay attention to and obey the orders of their superiors. Their direct superiors.
The force is hierarchical and the command structure is designed to give order and act in a coordinated manner. The highest ranking official is the force's "major", currently, Josep Lluís Trapero. So he gives the orders to the commanders to carry out different operations.
In this case, Trapero remains in command of the force and has to give orders to all his agents. Until now, political instructions have come from the Catalan Interior minister and the director general of the police, because the Mossos are the police of Catalonia and, as such, they had full powers. But Trapero is now under the number three of the central Interior ministry, the civil guard Diego Pérez de los Cobos.
Josep Lluís Trapero will have to follow his orders or, if he disobeys, follow the orders of Catalan Interior minister Joaquim Forn. The agents will do what Trapero says.