In a press conference at the Spanish Congress, the minister stated that the operation was carried out for security reasons and denied any violation of fundamental rights. According to his account, there was an express prohibition from ecclesiastical authorities against displaying symbols or making political expressions during liturgical acts. "I want to congratulate the Spanish police and the Mossos d’Esquadra for extraordinary work that, moreover, went unseen and did not alter the event," the minister declared.
Grande-Marlaska was responding to criticism from Junts deputy Marta Madrenas and ERC deputy Francesc-Marc Álvaro. Both had reproached the expulsion of the singers and denounced a violation of freedom of expression. Madrenas argued that the action was for "purely political" reasons, emphasizing that there was no risk of violence, threat, public disorder, or danger to security. "There were only citizens peacefully exercising their rights, and that should not be a problem in a democracy," she stated.
The Junts deputy criticized the serious risk assessment of citizens wanting to perform the Catalan national anthem in Catalonia, warning that when police prevent citizens from exercising freedom of expression, they restrict fundamental rights. For his part, Álvaro lamented the "strange" action of the security forces and doubted it was characteristic of a "democratic police force," as it had not been proven that the singers intended to boycott the event.
The controversy has also reached the Spanish Episcopal Conference. Its president, Luis Argüello, suggested at a press conference that "some members of the choirs" were the ones who reported the situation, without providing public evidence or identifying any witnesses to support this version. However, witnesses to the events consulted offer a different perspective, indicating that the security personnel's attitude became increasingly intimidating after rehearsals.
According to these witnesses, tension escalated when an officer spotted a Catalan flag (estelada) among a singer's sheet music. From that point on, they explain, security forces "went into a state of panic" and began to inspect and confiscate sheet music one by one, in an atmosphere of growing tension. The same sources question the version of internal denunciation, stating that "the choral movement in Catalonia is predominantly Catalanist."
