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A pepper spray used by a PP lawmaker disrupted a session of the Spanish Congress
The episode forced several people to receive medical attention and led to the sealing off of parliamentary areas. According to reports, the aerosol had been brought into the chamber by Ana Vázquez Blanco amid the debate over the situation in Ceuta.
A session in Spain’s Congress of Deputies was disrupted by the presence of a pepper spray that had been brought in by Partido Popular lawmaker Ana Vázquez Blanco to display it during the debate on the situation in Ceuta, according to El País.
According to that outlet, the lawmaker had told her group the day before of her decision to show the aerosol as part of a complaint about insecurity on the streets of Ceuta. PP sources said they believed the canister was empty, but the gas ended up spreading through the Congress ventilation ducts.
The episode led to medical attention for 12 people and to the sealing off of areas in two parliamentary buildings, according to El País. La Vanguardia added that a visitor from the Mauritanian parliamentary delegation vomited and received assistance, while another dozen affected people had to be examined on medical advice.
According to La Vanguardia, the president of Congress ordered the lawmaker to leave the chamber until she got rid of the container. That outlet also said the aerosol was activated up to three times in Congress bathrooms and that the PP later admitted that a party worker handled it while trying to clean it before handing it over to the police.
El País reported that the Lower House police took possession of the spray at 12.45 p.m., after more than three hours of speculation about the origin of the toxic substance. After what happened, the lawmaker’s public version of the condition of the canister was called into question by what occurred inside the chamber, while the episode opened the door to possible political and disciplinary sanctions, amid criticism for having introduced an object whose possession is prohibited in Parliament, according to La Vanguardia.
Sources
About this note. Written by El Notero with the assistance of artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not conduct its own reporting on this event.
