Catalonia suspends pilot plan for plainclothes police in schools after teacher backlash

Plan suspended after opposition

The Catalan government's pilot project to place plainclothes Mossos d'Esquadra agents in secondary schools has entered "a path of paralysis," Interior Councillor Núria Parlon said in a radio interview on Tuesday. She acknowledged that the plan "appeared at a totally inopportune moment," coinciding with peak teacher mobilizations over working conditions. The initiative aimed to bring police mediators into schools to help resolve conflicts, but faced immediate pushback from the education sector.

Teacher conflict and infiltration

The school year has been marked by ongoing strikes over teacher workloads, with slogans like "fewer police and more teachers" appearing at protests. Tensions escalated when it was revealed that two Mossos agents had infiltrated a teachers' assembly in Barcelona, posing as educators. Parlon described the infiltration as a "clumsy and poorly focused" decision, and an internal investigation has been opened.

Government's mixed messages

While Parlon signalled the plan's effective suspension, the government spokesperson Sílvia Paneque insisted hours later that "there is nothing new" and that the pilot continues as planned. Paneque clarified that seven secondary schools remain in the trial, down from an initial 14. Parlon had stated the project cannot advance while the conflict with teachers remains unresolved, and that a decision on resumption would come only after an evaluation.

Reactions from education community

ERC parliamentary spokesperson Esther Capella urged the government to comply with a parliamentary motion to cancel the pilot, calling on them to "listen to the educational community and society in general." The largest teachers' unions rejected the plan, arguing that hiring more educators and social integration specialists was the real solution. Some school directors and anti-bullying platforms expressed cautious interest, preferring to wait for results. Capella also noted that the same government had cut 120 social integration professional posts this year.

Future of the pilot

The Interior department has stated that no new centers will be added until a clear evaluation is completed, expected in the first quarter of 2027. "We have to see if we can really resume it in the future, once the conflict has been resolved, and see if it makes sense. We believe it does," Parlon said. The pilot's fate is now tied to the outcome of negotiations between the education department and teachers' unions, which remain at an impasse.