Overview
- A PP deputy, Ana Belén Vázquez, displayed a pepper‑spray canister in the hemicycle and was ordered out of the plenary by the president of the Congress on Wednesday after cameras recorded the act.
- Party sources say an unnamed PP worker then manipulated and discharged the canister up to three times in congressional bathrooms, the aerosol spread through ventilation, several rooms were sealed and about a dozen people received medical attention including a visiting member of a Mauritanian delegation.
- Under the 1993 Weapons Regulation sprays of defensive gas are classified as weapons and the Congress Reglamento (article 101) bans carrying weapons on parliamentary premises, a rule that gives the plenary power to impose temporary suspension for discipline breaches.
- Reporting by El País cites military sources saying the Mando de Operaciones has equipped troops in Ceuta with pepper spray as a close‑range defensive tool, while separate media reports allege instances of its use on migrants and Defence says it has no records of complaints and would notify judicial authorities if it did.
- The episode produced an initial public show of support from some PP colleagues followed by private unease, and it raises two immediate questions to watch: whether the Congress will open disciplinary proceedings and whether Defence or prosecutors will investigate the alleged field uses in Ceuta.