Santanyi, like many municipalities in Mallorca, doesn't have enough police officers, and Covid has meant extra demands, such as controlling beach capacities.
Faced with this problem, the town hall has decided to take on private security. They will carry out certain tasks and free the police to concentrate on others. These tasks will chiefly be the control of beaches, but they may well include controls at fiesta times, assuming there are fiestas. Santanyi has thirteen population centres, and they all need covering.
The mayor of Santanyi, Maria Pons, says that a tender is being raised worth 60,000 euros. She and the town hall want extra security personnel to start work as soon as possible; they will certainly be needed from June to September.
Last summer, police numbers were insufficient for the demands made on the force because of the coronavirus measures. The force comprises between 35 and 40 officers, and not all of them are out on patrols. It isn't a straightforward matter of recruiting more police because of constraints on town hall spending.