A smiling woman with blonde hair stares out from posters engulfed in flames. Her face disintegrates into ashes as protesters, one by one, drop the sheets of paper onto a small fire outside the police station in the city of Girona, 100 kilometres north of Barcelona, in the autonomous region of Catalonia. A line of riot police officers, guns strapped to their chests, observe the scene. They appear unfazed by the small act of rebellion.
It’s a sweltering evening in July, and hundreds of people have gathered for a procession led by the latest victims of Spain’s escalating ‘policia infiltrat’ (police infiltration) scandal. Just one week ago, the woman whose picture was being burned had been known among Girona’s progressive movements as Maria Perelló, a student and committed activist. But that wasn’t her true identity.
