A dispute over Catalan and a fee for renewing a DNI at the La Junquera police station in Girona led Junts deputy Isaac Padrós to file a formal complaint against a National Police officer. On July 29, Padrós, a member of the Catalan Parliament and a visually impaired citizen, visited the station with his wife and daughter to renew another daughter’s national identity document (DNI). The visit escalated when Padrós requested service in Catalan and the officer said he could not understand the language.
Padrós said he asked for a translator but was told none was available. Tensions rose when the officer said the standard fee applied to the renewal. Padrós argued that, as the head of a large family, he was exempt. The officer replied that the exemption should have been raised before the process began, pointing to a notice displayed at the station. Padrós, who is blind, objected, and the exchange grew more heated. Police then escorted the family to a more private area of the station.
Published DNI guidance lists the standard fee as €12 and exempts people who prove their status as members of a large family. That rule provides context for the payment dispute. Padrós said the officer told him he had to declare the exemption before the appointment process began. He ultimately paid to avoid repeating the procedure.
Padrós said seven or eight officers surrounded the family, an experience he described as intimidating. Asked for identification, he presented his parliamentary accreditation, but the officer insisted on seeing his DNI. His wife retrieved the document, which, Padrós said, the officer took from her abruptly. After recording their details, police told the family the renewal would not proceed unless the fee was paid and asked them to leave.
The incident continued after Padrós contacted the Mossos d’Esquadra to report what he considered violations of his linguistic and social rights. Two Mossos officers arrived at the National Police station, where Padrós was told that the National Police officer had reported him for disobedience. Padrós then filed a formal complaint against the officer, alleging denial of civic rights, discriminatory refusal of service, moral harm, coercion and falsification of the police report. He submitted his detailed account of alleged mistreatment and disrespect to the Girona prosecutor’s office.
The episode has drawn attention amid other reported language disputes involving public services in Catalonia. El Món described a separate 2025 complaint about a telephone call to the La Jonquera police station concerning a passport. The caller said an agent interrupted him and insisted that only Spanish was spoken there. That telephone complaint is distinct from Padrós’s account of his in-person visit.
In the same report, El Món cited an unnamed Catalan-language organization that recorded 176 complaints of linguistic discrimination against Catalan speakers in public administration in 2025, 44.3% more than in 2024. The report described the figure as a record. These are complaints made to the organization, not adjudicated findings of misconduct. The wider debate concerns the use of Catalan in public administration and how language rights work in everyday dealings with public authorities.
Similar language disputes have been reported in restaurants and shops, but this confrontation between a Catalan parliamentarian and a state official has drawn particular attention. It also reflects wider debates about language in public administration and citizens’ ability to use Catalan in official settings. Recent political controversies in Spain, including those involving judicial independence and political polarisation, have highlighted the sensitivity of institutional interactions. That sensitivity is also evident in coverage of parliamentary disputes involving national deputies.
Spanish and Catalan are both used in dealings with public authorities in Catalonia. Published DNI fee guidance says the €12 charge does not apply to people who prove their status as members of a large family. In Padrós’s case, the dispute concerned how and when the exemption should apply, as well as his request to communicate in Catalan. His complaint has renewed attention to the handling of language rights and administrative procedures in public-facing institutions.
