Barcelona police coordination pact remains unsigned

Barcelona’s proposed police coordination agreement remains unsigned as August ends, delaying changes intended to improve joint work between Mossos d'Esquadra, Catalonia’s regional police force, and the Guàrdia Urbana, Barcelona’s municipal police. For residents, the immediate consequence is that they cannot yet file a complaint at any of the Guàrdia Urbana’s ten police stations.

The agreement would update the framework governing the two forces’ roles in the city. La Vanguardia reported on 24 August that the text had been agreed by representatives of both administrations, approved by the Barcelona City Council plenary and given provisional approval by the Generalitat-City Council bilateral commission, but had not been signed.

Proposed changes cannot yet take effect

The first agreement setting out the forces’ functions was signed in November 2005, when the Mossos d'Esquadra were deployed in Barcelona, according to La Vanguardia. Barcelona City Council’s public document repository also records an earlier three-party coordination agreement, approved on 14 July 2004.

Until a new agreement is signed, the planned operational changes cannot be applied. The proposed text would allow the Guàrdia Urbana to take on:

the receipt of complaints at its ten police stations;
investigations into minor and less serious offences, plus the resulting case administration;
work on monitoring and protecting victims of gender-based violence.

Interior says further work will resume in September

Sources from the Department of Interior told La Vanguardia that the text approved by the City Council plenary was not the final version. They said it required approval from the Tribunal Superior de Justícia de Catalunya, the High Court of Justice of Catalonia, and the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and that both had given their approval.

“After 20 years operating under an obsolete agreement, the new working framework requires avoiding false steps and ensuring that the new judicial responsibilities assumed by Barcelona’s police comply with the rules.”

According to the Department of Interior sources quoted by La Vanguardia, reports setting out the division of responsibilities still have to be drafted. That work is due to resume in September, and the department expects the signature to be completed before the end of 2026.

Barcelona City Council has published its approval of the proposed text in its official security and prevention announcement, which residents can use to follow the council’s published position on the agreement.

Primary sources: Ajuntament de Barcelona, ajuntament.barcelona.cat, Barcelona City Council, Alcaldia, Arxiu Municipal de Barcelona. Reported by lavanguardia.com, Mayka Navarro, Manuel Arenas,Gisela Boada, Sindicatura de Greuges de Barcelona, Pere Ríos, El País, Barna Diario, La Vanguardia.