So far, it was known that the operation called “Copernicus” had a cost of at least EUR 87 million. However, as has recently been announced, the cost of this operation amounted to EUR 42 million, including the salaries of police officers.

The Spanish Government has had to report the Police and Civil Guard's oversalaries in an organised operation to suppress the referendum of 1 October 2017.

As VilaWeb has been aware, the total expenditure on staff allowances amounted to EUR 42,140,600. In particular, 21,140,600 belong to the National Police and 21,000,000 to the Civil Guard. This can be deduced from a document from the Spanish Ministry of Finance – published three years later thanks to a request from Omnium Cultural.

In addition, the document also details the number of agents involved in the Copernicus operation. There were 3,545 National Police officers who, along with those already installed in Catalonia, created a device of 7,325 officers. The aim was to "ensure public order" and to monitor "the security of critical infrastructures", according to the document submitted by the Internet.

With regard to the Civil Guard, 3,511 officers were mobilized, of whom 7,938 were deployed. Thus, at least 15,263 agents of the Spanish State were mobilized in three months. Of these, 1,670 policemen and 995 civilian guards were housed on the Piolín boat, where 35 people were travelling.