The police commissioner of the Spanish province of Pontevedra (northwest), Estibaliz Palma, was sacked on Monday after admitting to having uttered some controversial words during a tribute lunch to a fellow riot police officer.
According to information published by the online newspaper ElDiario.es, the events occurred on March 11 during a celebration that brought together a group of police officers in a restaurant in Vigo.
During her speech, the chief of police referred to the criticism that police action received in the fall of 2019, when there were serious disturbances in Catalonia after the publication of the court ruling that condemned the promoters of the Catalan independence process.
In fact, the policeman honored during that lunch had had to retire after the serious injuries he suffered in said disturbances. But the words spoken by the police chief in honoring him also cost her her job. She probably didn't know it, but someone was recording her speech, which soon ended up in the hands of the press.
According to articles and audios published by the Spanish press, Police Commissioner Estibaliz Palma said:
Laughter in the room
"There were 48 hours in which it seemed that the National Police had been transformed and, suddenly, they raped, mistreated and I don't know what else they did. Some of them (in the Spanish feminine gender) would like to be raped by a UIP (riot police)," said the policewoman.
Meanwhile, laughter and jokes were heard around her.
After these words were spread, the General Directorate of the Police proceeded to dismiss the police woman on Monday afternoon.
The authorities of the province of Pontevedra and the region of Galicia have supported the dismissal of this police chief, as has been widely reported by the Spanish press.
