carles puigdemont, president of catalonia, described the raids as a ""de facto suspension of catalonia's self-rule"". ada colau, mayor of barcelona, called the raids ""a democratic scandal"". xavier domènech, from en comú podem expressed ""all red lines have been crossed"". pablo iglesias, leader of spanish podemos, defined the arrested officials as ""political prisoners"". dimitrios papadimoulis mep considered the situation was a ""very worrying drift"" for spain. mónica oltra, co-spokesperson of valencian compromís, defined it as ""forbidding acts of freedom of expression"".