The special summer local police force which will responsible for safety and security in Playa de Palma this season was officially presented by the mayor of Palma, José Hila, today.
Hila said that the town hall and the local police have got their security units ready, but was asking when the National Police would be on board. Last week there were conflicting reports about the extra members of the National Police who are annually deployed to the Balearics to boost police numbers every season not being able to find accommodation in Playa de Palma due to the high demand of bookings from holidaymakers.
National Police sources denied there were any problems, but Hila said that he is still waiting for the National Police to join the summer security operation, which is going to be more demanding than in recent years due to the record number of holidaymakers coming to Majorca and in particular Palma in particular.
The town hall has already reinforced its street and beach cleaning services to ensure that Palma is kept clean this summer, so it is confident that it has all the necessary services in place to confront the challenging season ahead.
But where are the reinforcements?
The problem is that the central government's delegate to the Balearics, Teresa Palmer, has stood down after being named the Balearic PP’s number one candidate for Congress at the general election re-run. It appears that nothing was left prepared regarding extra National Police.
"We’ve received no information at all," said Hila, who was accompanied by the councillor for public safety, Angelica Pastor.
"First of all we had to change the date of the security meeting because she (Palmer) was travelling and then, no sooner does she return, she leaves her post and we have news at all what the plans are for the National Police in Playa de Palma this summer," Pastor stated.
There will be a total of 62 officers on duty during the day from 23 May to 23 October. 32 officers will be on nights and a further 42 on beach patrols, a total of 25 more than last year. Extra signs have been posted on the beach clearly indicating what is not permitted.