Pepper spray in Spain's parliament: MP may face probe
Twelve people receive medical care after pepper spray is released in Spain’s parliament in Madrid, where MP Ana Vázquez shows a canister during the latest plenary sitting. Speaker Francina Armengol orders the People’s Party MP out of the chamber and tells her to hand it to police. A report by the Congress of Deputies’ legal advisers says there are grounds to open disciplinary proceedings; the chamber’s governing board meets on Tuesday to decide.
Vázquez keeps the spray for hours
After leaving the chamber, Vázquez gives the canister to a party worker. Security footage reviewed by the legal advisers shows him taking it to a toilet in another parliamentary building before returning it to her.
At 11am, an hour and a quarter after Armengol ordered her out, Vázquez is still holding up the spray during a live television interview. Armengol then tells police to seize it. Vázquez hands it in at the parliament’s police station at 12.15pm, almost two and a half hours after the incident in the chamber.
None of the twelve people treated by the Congress medical service has serious symptoms. A catering worker also receives medical attention later. Ten more people report symptoms linked to the released spray but do not need treatment. Three people file complaints. A sealed-off area affects a parliamentary restaurant, whose operator puts its loss at just over €800.
Carrying it may be enough for a sanction
The legal advisers say pepper spray counts as a weapon under Spanish law, even when sold for self-defence. Parliament’s rules can punish an MP simply for carrying a weapon inside the building, whether or not it is displayed or used.
The board must hear Vázquez before proposing any sanction. If it proposes a temporary suspension, it must explain its decision and consider whether the penalty is proportionate. MPs would then vote on the proposal behind closed doors, without Vázquez taking part.
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Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com