Simon Hunter
THE Spanish Interior Ministry is considering taking legal action after it emerged that one of Spain’s main police unions, the SUP, has reached a training agreement with Daniel Esteve Martinez, the owner of Desokupa, a controversial squatter-removal company that operates at the limits of the law.
As well as his company, Esteve is also known for his regular attacks against leftist parties in Spain via social media, and gained further notoriety ahead of last year’s general election with a poster in central Madrid inviting Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to move to Morocco and desokupar La Moncloa prime ministerial palace – i.e. leave.
The deal between the company and the SUP union was announced by both sides via their social media accounts, and has prompted a negative reaction among other police unions on the basis it could cause reputational damage, Spanish daily El Pais reports.
The Interior Ministry announced on Sunday that it will ‘study the opening of an investigation to analyse a possible challenge to the agreement and study whether it violates democratic values’.
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The ministry also stated that the training offered by Desokupa ‘lacks any value in terms of professional evaluations’.
For its part, the union defended the agreement on the basis that officers are facing unprecedented ‘excessive violence’ in the line of duty as well as a loss of authority, increasing the risk that the police face.
“We are not asking anyone about their political leanings,” one member of the union board told El Pais. “We have signed it with someone we believe can help us achieve the goal of improving the training that officers receive from the Directorate General of Police and Interior.”
Esteve, meanwhile, said that the training was needed for officers because ‘a lack of security is a problem on the streets’.
The training for the more than 20,000 officers will be online, and will cost around €15 to €20.
Among the skills taught will be the use of metal telescopic batons, manoeuvres to immobilise a person, and first aid.
