Spanish police unions have claimed that meals for officers on special duty in Catalonia are worse than those offered to Catalan politicians spending the festive season in jail.

“Criminals get better treatment”, the main National Police union, SUP, said in a tweet posted along with a photograph of some croquettes and a plate of pasta next to a media report of the Christmas menu that Catalonia’s former vice president, Oriol Junqueras, was due to enjoy in a Madrid jail.