Police will obey region over referendum, says Catalan interior chief

Catalan interior department head Felip Puig has said that in the event of a conflict with Madrid over attempts to hold a referendum on Catalan independence, the Mossos d’Esquadra regional police force will side with the Catalonia government.

Puig said that if the Mossos found themselves facing contradictory orders from the Generalitat and the Spanish government, “they will be at the service of the country and its institutions” — which is to say they will obey the regional regime of Artur Mas if central government follows through with its threat to prohibit any referendum.

Speaking at the first congress of the Mossos d’Esquadra Officers Union, Puig praised the importance of Catalonia having its own police force. “In uncertain times, citizens look for points of reference and security, and that is the police,” he said.

He described the Mossos as a “structure of state,” meaning it is one of the instruments that the CiU Catalan nationalist bloc regional government sees as essential in its project to create an independent Catalonia.

The leader of the officers’ union, Jordi Dalmau, said the police wish to preserve the image they have earned in Catalonia, but said his union “does not belong to any political color.”

Puig’s speech marks a step forward in his description of the Mossos’ role in the process of holding a referendum. On Monday he only said the police would guarantee the “safety” of citizens, bearing in mind the sovereignty debate was based on a platform of non-violence.