Spanish police infiltration of pro-independence and social movements in Girona uncovered

[This article was originally published in Catalan on 14 July 2023.]

The fourth case of a Spanish police agent infiltrated in pro-independence and social movement groups. After the spying operations in Barcelona and València, La Directa has uncovered that a policewoman of Mallorcan origin – identified as Maria I. T.- has done the same thing for three years in Girona. The agent, who acted under the false identity of Maria Perelló Amengual, became involved in the popular movements of Girona and Salt, where she became a feminist, anti-racist and housing rights activist, after passing through the Spanish police academy in Avila (promotion of 2019).

Previously, he had studied a degree in Criminology and Public Prevention Policies at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF). As part of her activity, Maria I. T. had a romantic relationship with Òscar C. -they shared a flat for a year-, a well-known pro-independence activist from Girona and member of the CDR (Comitès de Defensa de la República).

Òscar C. is one of the people affected by the macro-case arising from the blocking of the TGV tracks during the protests of 1 October 2018. In fact, the police officer accompanied him to a meeting with lawyers Benet Salellas and Montse Vinyets to prepare for the trial. The accused activists face up to four years in prison and fines of 12,150 euros each.

Likewise, when he started working at the national headquarters of Òmnium Cultural, as coordinator of the (Re)voltes project, she took the opportunity to sign up for the Guillem Agulló Training School. The infiltrator was last seen in Girona during the Fires of Sant Narcís last year, although she had already disappeared intermittently -when the other cases of infiltration were uncovered- citing her father’s serious illness.

His behaviour, especially on his mobile phone, aroused suspicion among his colleagues in Girona: “What they have done to me has no name, they have destroyed me and my family. Maria has deceived me, my sister, my mother, my father and everyone around me. This is torture, it is an unimaginable level of torture. I gave him the best of myself and he was spying on what I was doing and what I was thinking”, says her partner.

Maria I. T. is not the only policeman in her family. According to La Directa, her brother -R. I. T.- is a member of the staff of the prefecture of the Spanish police in the Balearic Islands and has participated in mobilisations of the far-right . On his social networks he has shared all kinds of messages and images against Catalan independence.