This summer, 82 officers will reinforce police presence in Palma's main tourist areas - the old centre of the city, Cala Major and Playa de Palma.
On Tuesday, the mayor, José Hila, and the councillor for public safety, Joana Maria Adrover, outlined the police campaign for the summer, saying that Palma is a safe destination and that the town hall is preparing to give the best possible response to residents and to tourists, even though the season will not be typical.
The officers will be engaged in enforcing bylaws, such as those to do with illegal street selling, drinking parties and excess noise, as well as coronavirus regulations.
The schedule for this reinforcement will be Monday to Sunday, 10.00 to 02.00, from May 3 to October 3. The rest of the hours will be covered by regular police services. The officers have volunteered and this summer they will do so on a permanent basis. There will be no rotation, as has been the case in the past. Adrover explained that being assigned to specific areas on a continuous basis will allow the officers to get to understand problems better. "They will be a point of reference for residents and businesspeople if incidents occur." The officers will not be taking holidays over the five-month period.
Hila said that an agreement with the police unions will mean that the assignment of officers cannot be compared with that of previous years. In 2020, for example, 600,000 euros were budgeted for overtime divided into 24,000 police hours carried out by fifty officers. There is now a fixed service commission for providing regular service over the five months.
Palma's 55 neighbourhood police officers are excluded from this summer reinforcement. They will continue to work in their assigned neighbourhoods.