Police State! Know your rights with Spanish police and law enforcement

So there I was, standing by the side of the highway.

Hands on my head, sweating through my t-shirt, and getting a pat-down from a burly officer of the law – the contents of my pockets spread out on a bench next to me.

The day had started like any other.

I’d walked with Morena down to her office, then caught the train to one of Barcelona’s wealthier neighborhoods.

It’s called Sarrià, and it’s on the edge of town next to Tibidabo. And I was just exploring, having a little adventure.

Ambling past the expensive shops in Sarrià, I was admiring the beautiful weather.

I stopped in a church called Sant Vicenç, and stood in the back. They were doing Mass. A priest in green robes was holding up the wafer for its transubstantiation into the body of Christ.

Nice building, and a lot of people here for a Tuesday morning.

After a minute, some old lady comes up to me and says, “Someone’s stolen my phone and my wallet. Did you see anything?”

“Nope,” I said. “I just got here.”

Kind of a bummer, I thought, to get robbed in church.

Little did I know, my day was about to take a strange turn

A couple of minutes later, I’m leaving, past the statue of Saint Anthony of Padua and the crucified Jesus with his crown of thorns.

Mass is still in progress. The old lady catches me on the way out.

“I’m really distraught,” she says. “All my papers were in the wallet, and now someone’s stolen it. Can I look in your backpack?”

“No, you can’t look in my backpack!”

“Well if you were innocent, you wouldn’t mind,” she says.

“I have rights to privacy, and I’m not going to show you what’s in my backpack!”

“I’m calling the police!”

“Yes, please, señora, call the police.”

She seemed like a normal lady. But she was adamant about looking in my backpack. Thing is, the only “evidence” she had was that I was leaving the church, and it was more convenient to harass me than to bother everyone inside.

“If you were innocent,” she repeated, “you wouldn’t have a problem letting me see what’s in your backpack.”

I didn’t quite have it in me to explain that police states around the world love the logic of “if you’re innocent then you should have nothing to hide”. So I just waved her off and walked up the street.

Mr Chorizo on the wrong side of the law

Heading up Calle Mayor de Sarrià, I didn’t look back, but it seemed out of the corner of my eye that the old lady was following me.

After several blocks, I found a bench and sat down to have some water. (Water from my backpack, incidentally. I was carrying a sandwich, and a bottle of water, to wander up Tibidabo a bit later.)

And what do you know? When I looked around, the old lady was there, glaring from a safe distance. She had picked up one of her geriatric friends along the way, and was standing on the corner, 20 meters away from my bench.

In a few minutes the police came. Mossos d’Esquadra, the Catalan police force.

There were three of them. Two bearded guys, and a girl. The girl was quite attractive, except for the stupid stick and poke tattoos on her arms. And other than the uniforms, they all looked like normal people I could see at my gym.

Long story short, the attractive girl looked through my backpack, and the bigger of the two guys had me put my hands on my head while he frisked me. He went over my nuts twice, just in case.

They took my ID and the guy who’d just groped me took off his gloves and asked what had happened. I told them the story: it was basically nothing, outside of the old lady’s imagination. And they let me go.

Can Spanish police search you on the street?

All in all, this was a stupid situation that I just hope doesn’t happen again.

And, humble public servant that I am, I’m not going to get felt up by law enforcement without turning it into content for my audience.

So I guess today’s topic is “dealing with the police”.

Can Spanish police search or ID you on the street?

The answer, basically, is yes.

The 2015 law known as the Ley Mordaza (the Gag Law) states that the police can stop and search people if they believe there’s danger to the public or if they believe a crime has been committed.

They can also ask you for your identification, and if you refuse it, they can take you to the police station to be identified through other means.

All this was enacted in response to the wave of protests that happened during the economic crisis of 2008 – 2014. And it’s been controversial, to say the least. But it’s still on the books, despite the newer Socialist government talking about wanting to change it.

Personally, I’m a pretty law-abiding guy. My days of rebellion against the status quo, bourgeois society, and “The Man” are far behind me.

But I figured if I refused to show my ID or didn’t want to be searched, the police would put me through something far more annoying and time-consuming.

And I’d rather just move on with my day.

More about your rights when dealing with the Spanish police

So basically, if there are “indicios razonables” that you’ve committed – or are planning – a crime, the police can stop, identify, and search you. But “indicios razonables” are a pretty subjective thing.

Also, they can search your car if you’re driving. Sometimes there are police checkpoints on Spanish highways, looking for drunk drivers or whatever else – it used to be terrorism, but now not so much.

Furthermore – this may be useful to some readers – if you’re leaving a weed club they can search you and fine you if you’re found “in possession”. The legal grey area I’ve written about says you can “obtain” weed for personal use. But you also aren’t supposed to be selling it, consuming it in public, or transporting it.

The fine can be a lot of money, so be careful.

On the other hand, the police cannot check your mobile phone without a warrant. And they cannot enter your house – again, unless they have a warrant (una orden judicial), or in cases of flagrante delicto – meaning that they can see that a crime is taking place, or has just taken place.

That’s article 18 of the Constitution. “El domicilio es inviolable” is a good Spanish sentence to learn. Know your rights, so that you can protect them.

The usual caveat: I’m not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice. If you’re in some situation with the police, it’s probably best to comply now and sue them later, if you want to. If they don’t follow the law, any evidence they get illegally will be disallowed in court anyway.

Back to my run-in with Spanish police

Anyway, I was absolutely not going to let some random stranger go through my bag. And I sort of assumed the police would take one look at me and decide I don’t fit the usual profile of pickpockets in Barcelona.

But what do I know? Maybe I do fit some profile – maybe I look like an English teacher who’s down on his luck and stealing from old ladies during Mass. Or maybe they’re just doing their job.

I let them search my bag. I put my hands on my head. I was sort of surprised by the nut-grabbing. But they let me go in the end. I ain’t no pickpocket. Just a sweaty ginger guy.

As they were finishing, one of the Mossos picked up my cheap Android phone.

“Is this hers?”

“No, she said she lost an iPhone.”

So that’s that. I assume that if I had walked a bit faster, I could have just disappeared in the neighborhood and they never would have found me.

But I was innocent… and with nothing to hide, I also didn’t think I should be “running”.

All in all, it was a bit stupid.

Afterwards, I took the funicular up Tibidabo and had a nice walk around. I saw some panoramic views of the city. Except for the frisking, it wasn’t a bad day.

Airing my dirty laundry

I mention, from time to time, my sordid past as a young immigrant.

But the only time I’d been on this side of the law here in Spain was around 15 years ago. I was walking in Lavapies, one of the most overrated barrios of Madrid, and some police officers were stopping foreign-looking people.

I was actually illegal at the time, but I handed over my Arizona driver’s license and they let me pass without further questions. Guess I was lucky that day.

Other than that, in almost 21 years in Spain I’ve had very little contact with the police. I called them a few months ago when okupas were breaking into my building, and that’s about it.

My understanding of these things is that if a police officer decides to find “indicios razonables” in order to search you, he can probably come up with something. But the chances are low.

I’ve also heard of the Policía Nacional checking people’s IDs in train stations to see if they’re “legal” or not. In any case, I don’t think it’s particularly common.

And just being illegal isn’t enough to get you deported. From what I’m reading, if the police decide you’re not supposed to be in Spain, they’ll fine you and move on.

(As usual, have your questions answered by a lawyer, not a blogger.)

What to do if you’re arrested in Spain

If you’re arrested in Spain, first of all, stay calm!

You have certain rights that probably won’t surprise you.

• You have the right to remain silent. There’s no obligation to tell the police anything.

• You have the right to an attorney. If you have someone in mind, you can make the call. Otherwise, they’ll get you a lawyer (for free if you can’t afford one).
• You have the right to notify a family member of your situation.

(All standard Miranda vs Arizona stuff so far. But there’s more.)

If you’re foreign in Spain, also…

• You have the right to a free interpreter if you don’t speak Spanish (or Catalan, etc).
• You have the right to communicate with your country’s consulate in Spain.

This last one’s a bit funny. I’ve never assumed that the US consul would just drop what he’s doing and rush to the police station if I get caught with my hand in some old lady’s purse.

But maybe if it’s a serious crime (or accusation) they’d take an interest. Or if you’re an important person, somehow.

Also, now that I’m officially Spanish (apart from the final documents) I’m supposed to deal with the Spanish legal system as a Spaniard, and – since Spain doesn’t recognize double nationality with the US – not get the consulate involved. Hopefully it will never come to that.

If you’re arrested, you should be in front of a judge within 72 hours, at which point they’ll probably let you go, perhaps with a future court date.

(If you’re retenido, not detenido, they can keep you for six hours to identify you, but not longer. And if they decide that there’s risk that you’ll flee the country, they might put you in prisión provisional while you wait for trial.)

Back on the streets of Barcelona

As I wrote in my article about pickpockets and petty crime, this system gets people back on the streets quickly. And (now that I’m apparently on the margins of society myself) I guess that’s good if you’re innocent.

If you’re a criminal, well, you might end up free as well.

Actually, you probably will.

Remember that ugly situation in Torre Pacheco several weeks ago? The kid who beat up an old man, which led to a long weekend of far-right protests and racial tension, was caught and apparently released soon after, despite being convicted of attempted “robo con violencia” in a separate incident.

He was, for a short time, in prisión provisional, but as of this writing, he’s out again.

Someone who remains in prison while waiting for trial is Santos Cerdán, former high-ranking member of the socialist government. In his case, the prosecutors are worried he’ll destroy evidence in the investigation for corruption. It seems a bit arbitrary that he’s the only one in prison when the case implicates others.

But as usual, I’m no legal expert.

Just a guy out for a walk, with a water bottle and a sandwich.

Yours,

Daniel AKA Mr Chorizo.

P.S. I hope the lady who accused me of stealing her wallet had a good day. Actually, I hope she went home and found her stuff on the kitchen table and felt like a total asshole for calling the police on me. But I guess I’ll never know how this worked out for her.

P.P.S. If you’re in need of a lawyer, I got my Spanish nationality through Melcart Abogados in Madrid. They do criminal cases as well, and I think they’ll travel if they have to. Talk to Roberto there, and tell him Daniel from the Chorizo Chronicles sent you. (Full disclosure: I might get a bit of a commission if you end up hiring him.)