The United Association of Guardia Civil Officers (AUGC) said yesterday that there was the need for at least 500 more officers in the Balearics, where the force had not been added to for some 20 years and where in fact there were now 150 fewer officers than six years ago. Speaking in Palma, the national secretary for communication with the AUGC, Juan Antonio Delgado, and the secretary general for the association in the Balearics, Pedro Santos, also explained that officers now had fewer labour rights and were more poorly paid than before, while there were also fewer resources available. Economic crisis had made a dent in the security of the Balearics, where the situation for officers is “complex” because of the high floating population for much of the year, something which is not taken into account of in security planning.
Previously, officers from other regions had been drafted in to add to security in the summer season, but this was no longer happening.
As another example of under-resourcing, vehicles have on average clocked up 300,000 kilometres, when the recommended maximum is 200,000. Agents were going out, said Delgado, in what were “practically slow-moving coffins”.
An additional 500 officers would go towards strengthening investigation teams, the traffic unit and the maritime service as well as towards fighting drug trafficking and crimes related to new technologies. Of the 24 Guardia Civil bases in the Balearics, eighteen of them in Majorca, these all required reinforcements, while a redevelopment of the headquarters had neither been done correctly nor totally.
500 more Guardia Civil officers needed in the Balearics
A serious lack of resources, says union representing Guardia Civil friends.