Gerard Piqué and Clara Chía, upon their arrival at the City of Justice to testify about the alleged harassment of the paparazzi. MASSIMILIANO MINOCRI
The paparazzi Jordi Martín will not be able to approach less than 400 meters from Clara Chía, partner of former Barça footballer Gerard Piqué. A judge in Barcelona has agreed this Friday, June 9, the restraining order requested by Chía against the photojournalist in the framework of an investigation for an alleged crime of harassment. In a decision with few precedents, the magistrate prohibits Martin from being "less than 400 meters from his home, place of work or any other place where he is" for a period of three months. You will also not be able to contact her. With one exception: the "social" events attended by Chia; In that case, you must maintain a distance with her of at least 20 meters.
On May 10, Piqué and Chía filed a complaint for a crime of harassment against Martín before the Mossos d'Esquadra, which this Wednesday ratified before the judge. Both explained that, a few days earlier, the paparazzi followed them to a private parking lot located on Beethoven Street in Barcelona, near the headquarters of the company Kosmos, which is owned and president by the former Barça defender. They explained that it was not a specific event, but that they have been suffering that persecution for "months". Martín followed them to the wedding of a friend of Piqué, appeared at the house of Chía's parents and even chased them "by car at high speed" and "stood in their way to prevent the passage and capture a photo" of the couple, according to the order issued by the head of the court of instruction number 6 of Barcelona, Miguel Angel Tabares.
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The resolution concludes that Martín has "followed and monitored insistently and repeatedly" the couple and agrees to the restraining order for Chía, 24, despite the opposition of the Prosecutor's Office. Pique, 36, had initially requested to be a beneficiary of that order as well, although on Wednesday, in his appearance at the City of Justice in the Catalan capital, he withdrew the request. Martin, for his part, said in his statement as investigated that he is limited to doing his job as paparazzi. The judge argues with the car known this Friday that, unlike the former footballer and businessman ("a person well known to the general public"), Chía is "known at a general level, only, for being the sentimental partner of Piqué".
One of the central elements of the discussion is to determine whether or not Martín can be considered a journalist, the resolution admits. If this is the case, their work is protected by the fundamental right to freedom of information. The judge, however, doubts – in line with what Piqué and Chía say – that this is the case. Erroneously, the magistrate considers that a paparazzi must necessarily be "registered in the corresponding association of journalists" and that, if he is not, "it is doubtful that his activity can be considered in the strict journalistic sense" and is, consequently, "accompanied and protected" by the right to information. As EL PAÍS has learned, Martin plans to appeal the order.
Chia, in a "borderline situation"
The judge notes that the term "paparazzo" (for the singular) comes from the Italian "mosquito". "The characteristic [of these animals] is that their activity is usually annoying and even, sometimes, painful, certainly small or moderate, tolerable." The resolution contrasts these inconveniences with the much more serious damages that Chia has suffered. The young woman detailed before the magistrate, with "words and gestures suggestive of intense anguish", her "suffering", which she attributed "to the aggressive, overwhelming, intrusive and provocative behavior" of Martín. Pique's girlfriend said she has come to consider "extreme exits" and that she is in a "borderline situation."
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Chía explained not only the discomfort caused by an unwanted public exposure, but also the set of deprivations to which she has been subjected: she cannot, the car relates in detail, "go out to eat at noon with her co-workers", she has lost "contact with her friends from before", she has "difficulties to meet her family or play sports". In their statement as witnesses, last Wednesday, the couple denounced the aggressiveness of the behavior of the paparazzi, with a "constant invasion of personal space" that prevents them from even wandering calmly. They also detailed his "provocative" behavior, with which he tries, always according to his version, "to generate a violent response for advertising and lucrative purposes."
Martin, for his part, admitted that he knows Chia's condition because of his recent notoriety. But he denied any animosity towards the couple and speculated that the complaint has to do with the fact that he was the first journalist to capture a photograph of the two together. The photographer argued that Piqué is upset with him because he maintains "a certain friendship" with Shakira, from whom he announced his separation in June 2022 after 12 years of relationship. He added that he has limited himself to doing his job. In his resolution, the judge assures that the precautionary measure agreed does not affect his professional performance, since, as he himself has admitted, he can take photographs at a great distance (up to 800 meters) and the interest of the Piqué-Chía relationship has been declining. The magistrate believes that those three months of separation can serve for Chia "to recover" and "perhaps, to definitively lose media interest."