The PP now admits Ana Vázquez's "error" after displaying the pepper spray can in Congress but justifies that she did it to vindicate women in Ceuta

On Wednesday, the expulsion of the Popular Party deputy Ana Vázquez took place in the Congress of Deputies after she displayed a can of pepper spray in the Lower House. Faced with countless criticisms, her party stated this Friday that it was an “error.”

It should be remembered that, after the PP deputy was expelled for showing an item classified as a weapon, the authorities of the hemicycle had to cordon off several areas of Congress after pepper spray was detected in one of the bathrooms. A woman had to be treated after suffering vomiting due to the strong smell and, according to parliamentary sources, around a dozen people were affected to varying degrees by inhaling the gas.

The PP spokesperson in Congress, Ester Muñoz, acknowledged this Friday that the handling of the pepper spray can ended up causing a situation that, in her opinion, should have been avoided. The 'popular' leader admitted the “error” made by emptying the remaining content in the spray and made it clear that what happened in the Congress bathrooms was “bad.”

According to Muñoz, Ana Vázquez initially stated that the can was “empty” and, before showing it to the media, decided to hand it over to a parliamentary group advisor to prevent “a misfortune.” The worker later took the spray to a bathroom to empty any remaining contents. “He went to the bathroom, cleaned it, and indeed some gas that was left was expelled, and what happened, happened. Bad. It's obvious,” the parliamentary spokesperson acknowledged in statements to Antena 3, collected by Europa Press.

The PP defends Vázquez's intention

Despite acknowledging the error, Muñoz defended that the deputy's objective was to focus on the situation that, according to the PP, certain women and children are experiencing in Ceuta. The parliamentary spokesperson maintains that Vázquez intended to make visible that some women and minors carry pepper spray cans on the street and even in schools.

A situation that, according to Muñoz, “the Government is permanently denying” and calling an “exaggeration.” The PP spokesperson insisted that this was the reason why the deputy brought the spray to the Plenary: “It is of absolute gravity. What was intended was to denounce that.”

The controversy did not end with Vázquez's expulsion from the chamber. After displaying the canister during her speech before the Minister of Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, the Police had to seal off several Congress offices after pepper spray was detected in a bathroom. The episode forced the area to be cordoned off and caused several people to be affected by inhalation.

Muñoz also referred to this second episode, which she described as a "subsequent event." The PP spokesperson stated that "no one liked it" and admitted that "it is evident that it could have been avoided." At the same time, she criticized the words of the President of Congress, Francina Armengol, for accusing the PP of attending the Plenary "armed," an expression that, in her opinion, would equate Vázquez's action with having entered the Chamber "with explosives."

The deputy was expelled from the chamber after showing the spray during her speech. Armengol alleged that the canister is considered a weapon and recalled that the Congress Regulations prohibit displaying weapons in parliamentary premises. Vázquez, for her part, then defended that the container was "empty" and even assured that she would bring it back to the Chamber "as many times as necessary."

Muñoz again attacks the PSOE

The parliamentary spokesperson for the PP also took advantage of the controversy to direct her criticism against the Government. Muñoz focused on another issue that pits her party against the Executive and reproached that Vázquez's actions are questioned while, according to her argument, the PSOE faces other political and judicial episodes.

"The same day we learn that the PSOE contacted a criminal plot to try to eliminate a judge. Come on, please, I think we have to be serious in this life," she said, referring to the PP's accusations about the so-called 'sewers of the PSOE' and the pressures that, according to the party, Judge Beatriz Biedma, in charge of investigating the brother of the President of the Government, would have received.