3 remaining investigating proceedings against the 9 teachers in Sant Andreu de la Barca El Palau Secondary School dismissed

The Seventh Examining Magistrate’s Court of Martorell dismisses the three remaining cases against teachers at El Palau secondary school in Sant Andreu de la Barca under investigation for alleged crimes of inciting hatred. Specifically, the Prosecutor’s Office had accused the teachers of a crime of ‘harm to dignity’ and, in the case of five of those under investigation, ‘gross slander’. The complaint accused them of having made ‘derogatory’ and ‘humiliating’ comments towards the Civil Guard and students who are the children of Civil Guard officers. The Third Examining Magistrate’s Court in Martorell had also dismissed the case against another teacher accused of discriminating against students, that was not appealed and became final. The courts find that there is insufficient evidence of criminal offences to keep the case open. Notably, up to 30 teachers at the school, including eight of the nine persecuted, had asked to be transferred in July of the previous year given the situation at the school, and it will not be until December 2021 that Ciudadanos takes back its accusation, acknowledging that there was a misunderstanding and that the teachers had not indoctrinated students. But at the time the case began, the then-leader of Ciudadanos, Albert Rivera, posted a tweet accusing the teachers directly, and El Mundo newspaper published a piece about them. The Public Prosecutor and the Asociación Española de la Guardia Civil file appeals against some of the dismissals, before Barcelona Provincial Court. Despite the cases being dismissed, the professors complain that they have have, inter alia, been threatened and physical and psychological consequences for this whole situation.