The interior minister, Jorge Fernández Díaz, announced on Tuesday that he will appear in Congress to give an explanation for police charges against students in Valencia, admitting in advance that riot police might have committed "excesses."

Talking on Catalunya Radio, the minister stressed his support for the police, but added that there might have been "some excessive force" in isolated incidents, but that it would be investigated.  He promised to "act accordingly" but also warned that the protestors who took to the streets of Valencia on Monday night "ignored the police's verbal requests", creating "a dynamic that was expolited by a few radical elements".

The minister's comments were the first public statement by a government representative since the initial incident between police and students of Lluis Vives secondary school in Valencia erupted last Wednesday. The arrest of one of the boys during a protest against cuts in public education was the trigger for the susequent incidents. 

After hearing their statement,  José Manuel Sánchez Fornet, the secretary general of the Unified Police Trade Union (SUP) issued a statement accusing Fernández Díaz of "personal and political cowardice" and having a "poor moral" attitude by admitting alleged police abuse.

"If it [the police response] has been deemed excessive, the minister should request the resignation of the person with ultimate political responsibility, the government delegate, as established protocols demand in such cases, and then start an investigation," he said, adding that the "confrontational atmosphere with the police is down to a few anti-establishment radicals, skinheads or modern redskins".  Fornet did, however, concede that the police "can and should do better than they did yesterday [on Monday] in Valencia."

Along with the SUP, opposition parties in the Valencian Parliament, parents of students at the Luis Vives school and Valencian Federation of Students (Faavem) have called for the resignation of the government representative in the region, Paula Sánchez de León, and the chief of police, Valencia Antonio Moreno, who described protesters as "the enemy" last week.

The Interior Minister called Moreno's words a slip of the tongue: "We know what he meant, but he chose an unfortunate turn of phrase", he said.

Despite Jorge Fernandez Diaz's intervention, the government's position on policing in Valencia is clealry not unified. Justice Minister, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, said today the police response was "justified and proportionate" because the officers were "violently attacked".

"The [police] reaction was not only legitimate, but necessary in order to restore a guarantee of our fundamental rights" the justice minister concluded.