The agreement signed by Daniel Esteve Martínez, owner of Desokupa, the company dedicated to extrajudicial evictions in Spain, and the Unified Police Union (SUP, the second in number of votes in the last union elections, in 2023) to train thousands of agents in different self-defense techniques has provoked the rejection of the Ministry of the Interior – which has already announced that it is considering opening a file to analyze whether the agreement “violates democratic values” – and also of the rest of the union organizations. The main ones have made public in the last two days through social networks statements in which they denounce that the agreement can damage the image of the institution due to the participation in it of Esteve, who at the time encouraged through social networks the protests in front of the federal headquarters of the PSOE on Ferraz street in Madrid in which serious altercations took place involving far-right activists that caused injuries to dozens of agents.
Meanwhile, SUP leaders insist that their intention is to continue with the course. “A course that is not known is being judged,” says one of them. According to them, the agreement states that Esteve, through one of his companies, Desokupa Manda SL, and its commercial brand, the Desokupa Club, will teach classes starting in September. on-line and face-to-face classes for union members. The latter consist of half a dozen practical situations that will include everything from first aid notions to techniques for using extendable steel batons or the so-called “grappling “police”, which combines different fighting manoeuvres to immobilise a person. However, his explanations have not convinced even within the union itself, where there has also been criticism, as EL PAÍS has been able to confirm. “Not everything goes to get members”, complains a former union leader. Another simply described the agreement as “a disgrace” and announced that he was going to ask to leave the union.
Popular Justice (Jupol, the union that won the most votes in the last elections in the Police) described the agreement in a note issued this Monday as a “controversial agreement” that could cause “serious harm to national police officers who will receive non-approved and non-measurable training.” [puntuable para la promoción interna]”. The union also points out that the training that Desokupa would provide will not cover the real needs for self-defence that we national police officers currently have, where the attacks we suffer in the performance of our work are becoming more and more common.” Jupol demands that the Interior Ministry provide “this type of training” under the auspices of the General Directorate itself.
The Spanish Police Confederation (CEP) has expressed a similar opinion, asking that this training be in the hands of “police professionals, who do exist and who do know the operational and regulatory framework of this profession.” This union criticized the fact that someone “from outside” wants to teach the agents their work. “We have professional and qualified instructors and we have plenty of them.” goalkeepers “looking for business,” he added, in clear reference to Esteve, who has also distinguished himself with his videos on social media – he has hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok – with harsh attacks on left-wing parties. For the CEP, “someone has made a very serious mistake, disrespecting colleagues and the entire Corps,” in clear allusion to the SUP.
On Sunday, the Federal Police Union (UFP) had already lamented on its profile on the social network X (formerly Twitter) that the union’s agreement with Desokupa could damage “the police image.” “Training is a very serious matter. It is not a game, it is our police prestige,” it added, and then demanded that this type of course be given by police officers or by personnel authorised by the Interior Ministry to do so. Esteve assured EL PAÍS on Sunday that he had 60 instructors to give this training and that 85% were, according to him, “active” police officers and civil guards. Also on Sunday, the Professional Police Union (SPP, the largest in the command hierarchy) questioned the validity of the Desokupa course.
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For its part, the Sumar Parliamentary Group has registered this Monday in Congress eight questions addressed to the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, in which it questions, among other things, that “violent civilian groups train active members of the police”, in reference to Esteve’s company. The group, integrated into Pedro Sánchez’s coalition government, also asks if the ministry is going to initiate actions “so that the courts outlaw violent groups” squadrons as Desokupa, given its interest in penetrating the security forces” and whether it will take measures “to prevent unions from teaching courses on violent techniques through violent extremist groups”.
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