Catalan police chief, Josep Lluis Trapero, has officially resigned after the government in Madrid ordered his dismissal. In a two-page resignation letter, the commander urged his colleagues to show loyalty to the new Madrid-appointed chief of the Mossos d'Esquadra. The Spanish government invoked Article 155 of its constitution on Friday, suspending the Catalan government and taking over the administration of the region. Dismissing key regional officials and sacking president Carles Puigdemont, Madrid also fired Trapero, the chief of Catalonia's Mossos d'Esquadra, the regional police force.
The announcement of Trapero's dismissal, approved by the Spanish Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido, was posted on the Interior Ministry’s website. Later on Saturday, Trapero, 51, a 26 year veteran of the force, submitted his two-page resignation letter.
I ask you — and you’ve always done so — to be sympathetic and stay loyal” to Ferran Lopez, a high-ranking officer from the Catalan police, who was appointed by Madrid as a new chief of Mossos, Trapero said. Lopez has served in the Mossos for 27 years and was the de-facto number two in the hierarchy. He appears to be a consensus candidate, suiting both the local force, who retain their chain of command, and Madrid, which had issues with Trapero. Amid the ongoing standoff between Barcelona and Madrid and with snap elections ordered for December 21, there’s concerns whether or not Mossos d'Esquadra will accept the central government’s control of the region. The regional force took a much less aggressive stance than Madrid’s Civil Guard in enforcing the ban of the independence referendum on October 1, when nearly 900 people were injured.
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