Lleida does not need a chief commissioner to illustrate the Generalitat’s brochure: it needs a leader who imparts order in the streets. The return of Josep Maria Estela to the head of the Regional Police Ponent in mid-October 2026 is not merely a professional rotation. It is a decision that once again places on the table an uncomfortable question: if those governing the Mossos d’Esquadra choose their top brass based on operational criteria or power balances in the nationalism that reigns in Barcelona.

Estela, a native of Alcarràs and 55 years old, returns to the same position he was relieved of in November 2024 amid a storm of accusations of politicisation against the Interior department, then in the hands of Joan Ignasi Elena (ERC). His return also coincides with a shake-up in the top brass: the resignation of Josep Lluís Trapero, the arrival of Ferran López as director general of the Police, and the appointment of Sílvia Catà, the first woman chief commissioner. The question is one: does this appointment strengthen the security of Ponent, or is it a new move in a game that is too partisan?

Is Estela a boost for Lleida or a political pawn?

The document published by SEGRE leaves little room for complacent interpretation. Josep Maria Estela, aged 55 and a native of Alcarràs, will return to head the Regional Police Ponent in mid-October 2026, replacing Commissioner Josep Codina, whose new posting remains pending resolution. This is not the first time Estela has held this position: he was previously head of the Mossos in Ponent between October 2022 and November 2024. At that time, and according to the same information, he had moved to become part of the top brass of the force, integrated into the prefecture alongside the chief commissioner, Miquel Esquius - recently retired - and the under-director, Commissioner Alícia Moriana, at the decision of the then director general of the Police, Josep Lluís Trapero.

Estela’s curriculum vitae does not allow for formal objections. He has been in the force since 1995 and has commanded the Campo de Tarragona region and the Tierras del Ebro region. Moreover, he was the first man from Lleida to become head of the Mossos d’Esquadra in all of Catalonia: he held that position for ten months as Trapero’s substitute, until he was relieved. He is the son of Josep Estela Fontanals, the first democratic mayor of Alcarràs. His connection to the territory is real and long-lasting. But precisely for this reason, the announcement of his return cannot be read solely as a technical promotion: it must be read in terms of power, because in the Mossos, power has long ceased to be merely police.

The politicisation that has not dissipated

The most uncomfortable fact in Estela’s file is not his age, his origin, or his experience: it is his dismissal from Ponent. SEGRE states verbatim that “Estela’s replacement angered officers and top brass, who accused the Generalitat’s Interior Department, then led by Joan Ignasi Elena (ERC), of politicisation.” This is not an opinion of this newspaper; it is the reaction of officers and top brass of the force itself to a decision that they perceived as a partisan score-settling. The Interior Department of the Generalitat, at that time under the control of Esquerra Republicana, moved a top brass without the calm that should accompany a professional rotation.

This accusation is not a minor detail. In a democracy, an autonomous police force must depend on the law, not on the colour of the ticket of the Interior minister. When the officers themselves detect that destinations are driven by political calculations, the chain of command is undermined, morale falls, and the public ultimately pays the price. Lleida does not need a regional chief commissioner who is competent on paper, but conditioned from day one by the suspicion that his appointment was driven by party balances. It needs a leader who imparts order without anyone doubting his independence. The fact that Estela is now returning to the same post he was removed from amid that controversy does not erase the episode: it highlights it.

The wobbly top brass of the Mossos

Estela’s return does not happen in a vacuum. In recent weeks, the leadership of the Mossos d’Esquadra has suffered several high-voltage moves. Josep Lluís Trapero has resigned from his post; Commissioner Ferran López has been appointed new director general of the Police; and Commissioner Sílvia Catà has taken over as chief commissioner, becoming the first woman to hold that position. Estela returns to Ponent precisely from this recently reformed top brass.

Instability in the top brass is bad news for any police force. Security plans are not executed in four weeks; they require continuity, internal confidence, and a command line that does not change every time the political wind shifts. When top brass positions are repeatedly renewed, regional commissioners become pawns on a board that they no longer control. And the pawns, no matter how experienced they are, cannot guarantee daily security if they are unaware of how long their orders will last or if these orders are based on operational criteria or backroom deals. Catà’s appointment as the first chief commissioner can be interpreted as a formal advancement in gender equality, but that does not compensate for a stable and depoliticised command policy. As long as the top brass spins at the pace of party interests, the base commissions will continue to be dragged by a uncertainty that deteriorates the public service.

Lleida’s security is not an honorary title

For the residents of Lleida and the rest of Ponent, the name of the chief commissioner matters less than the effectiveness of the police. The Regional Police Ponent must tackle the real problems of a complex area: street crime, disputed occupations, drug trafficking, violence in certain neighbourhoods, uncontrolled irregular immigration in some areas, and the growing sense of impunity when police response is late or conditioned. These ills cannot be cured with press releases or symbolic appointments.

Estela’s return could have a positive effect if it translates into improved coordination with local councils, increased preventive presence in hotspots, and a recovery of a police force that looks to the public, not to its political masters.

Lleida has suffered too many years of institutional manipulation. The Mossos d’Esquadra cannot continue to be a battlefield where pro-independence parties place and remove leaders based on their convenience. If the new leadership of the force - with Ferran López at the helm of the director general and Sílvia Catà as chief commissioner - wants to demonstrate that this chapter is over, it must start by guaranteeing appointments based on strictly professional criteria and by subjecting itself to genuine scrutiny. Estela has the opportunity to demonstrate that a Lleida-born leader, far from bowing to nationalism, can impose the law with independence. Or he can confirm that, in Catalonia, the police remains the preserve of politics. For Lleida, only one of those two options is acceptable.