Spanish army to investigate soldiers pictured drinking beers while armed
The incident took place at the weekend in the Barcelona municipality of Vilafranca del Pened¨¨s. Photos of the men with their machine guns next to them quickly went viral
The Spanish army is to investigate a group of soldiers who were photographed at the weekend drinking beer with their weapons placed on the ground next to them at a bar in Vilafranca del Pened¨¨s, a municipality of 40,000 inhabitants in Barcelona province.?
According to the army, the probe will determine whether the members of the military ¨C who were returning from operations in northern France ¨C have committed an offense by consuming alcohol while leaving their weapons by their sides. The consumption of alcohol is prohibited among soldiers when they are on duty or carrying weapons.
The consumption of alcohol is prohibited among soldiers when they are on duty or carrying weapons
In the photo above, which quickly went viral on social media, several groups of soldiers in uniform are clearly drinking bottles of beer while their automatic weapons are visible on the ground next to them. The photo, which has shocked the residents of Vilafranca, prompted many comments on social media, including a tweet from the congressional spokesperson for the Catalan Republican Left party (ERC), Gabriel Rufi¨¢n. ¡°No doubt that after a beer your machine gun is lighter.¡± For its part, the Vilafranca branch of radical left-wing Candidatura d¡¯Unitat Popular party (CUP) demanded that the soldiers leave the town.
According to sources from the army, the company spent Friday night in Sant Climent Sescebes (Girona) and, after resuming their journey, they stopped between 11.45am and 12.20pm on Saturday next to a supermarket in Vilafranca del Pened¨¦s so that the the bus drivers could make a mandatory stop and the soldiers could buy food for the rest of the trip, as their arrival in Ronda (Malaga) was not scheduled until early Sunday morning.
Normally, according to the same sources, weapons should remain inside the buses under the custody of a guard during stops. However, the head of the unit considered it safer for soldiers to take their weapons with them, as the buses were going to take advantage of the stop to refuel. Sources from the army added that the weapons were not loaded and that there were no incidents with the general public.
English version by Alicia Kember
Tu suscripci¨®n se est¨¢ usando en otro dispositivo
?Quieres a?adir otro usuario a tu suscripci¨®n?
Si contin¨²as leyendo en este dispositivo, no se podr¨¢ leer en el otro.
FlechaTu suscripci¨®n se est¨¢ usando en otro dispositivo y solo puedes acceder a EL PA?S desde un dispositivo a la vez.
Si quieres compartir tu cuenta, cambia tu suscripci¨®n a la modalidad Premium, as¨ª podr¨¢s a?adir otro usuario. Cada uno acceder¨¢ con su propia cuenta de email, lo que os permitir¨¢ personalizar vuestra experiencia en EL PA?S.
En el caso de no saber qui¨¦n est¨¢ usando tu cuenta, te recomendamos cambiar tu contrase?a aqu¨ª.
Si decides continuar compartiendo tu cuenta, este mensaje se mostrar¨¢ en tu dispositivo y en el de la otra persona que est¨¢ usando tu cuenta de forma indefinida, afectando a tu experiencia de lectura. Puedes consultar aqu¨ª los t¨¦rminos y condiciones de la suscripci¨®n digital.
