BRITISH Consul Mike Banham yesterday signed the agreement with the local government under which the Consulate will be informed immediately of any British subjects who ring the 112 emergency number. After signing the agreement with Balearic minister of the interior José María Rodríguez, Mr Banham said This is a major step forward for us. We have been working on this agreement for a long time and we are very pleased to be able to do this. It will allow us to cover the whole of the Balearics.
The Consul added that he had been very impressed with the 112 set up, for apart from having Spanish and Catalan speakers, it also has English and German speakers. I advise all British residents to ring 112 if in an emergency.
The 112 centre receives all police, fire and hospital emergencies and covers the entire Balearics.
Under the new agreement, the British consulate will be automatically contacted at the time the call is received.
Prior to today, Consulate staff were informed by telephone in an emergency.
At present, the British consulate is the only one to have this ground-breaking connection, however the Balearic minister said yesterday that similar agreements could be signed with other consulates, particularly those with a large resident population or a large tourist contingent. There are about 50'000 British residents in the Balearics.
CONSULATE WILL BE CONTACTED WHEN BRITISH CITIZENS MAKE EMERGENCY CALL