Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska has ordered an inquiry into whether police protocols were followed during 11N and has directed that pepper spray no longer be used in future demonstration-control deployments. The move creates a specific operational change, but it does not itself settle what happened in each disputed police intervention.
El Mundo reported that pepper spray was used in some actions against demonstrators during the general-strike day. Following controversy over footage of police interventions, Marlaska instructed the director general of the National Police to investigate compliance with the relevant protocols.
The ban is forward-looking: it removes a tool from upcoming deployments that, according to the report, was used in part of the 11N response. The available material does not set out its effective date, possible exceptions, or which police bodies it covers. That distinction matters because an operational instruction for the future is different from an assessment of conduct already under review.
The inquiry must establish, using operational records and applicable protocols, what decisions were made in each intervention and whether they complied with the rules. Marlaska said some images and actions did not, at first sight, appear compatible with the principle of proportionality, and he described the inquiry as immediate and specific.
The minister argues that he must defend police and Civil Guard actions while also protecting citizens’ rights and freedoms. Government sources quoted by El Mundo also argue that it would be unreasonable to expect a minister to know every frontline police action. That is not an argument against oversight: it makes a properly focused inquiry more important, without pre-judging its findings.
Removing pepper spray is a consequential administrative response to 11N. Its practical force will depend on how the Interior Ministry defines the order and on whether the inquiry clarifies the events that prompted it.
Sources
- El Mundo · Source date: 2026-11-13
Independent editorial content. WUA is not affiliated with any political party. 2026-11-13