The approximately 40 officers from the National Police’s Police Intervention Unit (UIP) who were responsible for the security of the Royal Family during their holidays in Mallorca have finally begun to receive their allowances, according to the Jupol union. The police officers, the union said in a statement, were sent to the island on 25 July to participate in the security operation at Marivent Palace and had to advance nearly €1,200 each to cover their living and accommodation expenses during the 18 days of service.
Jupol has repeatedly described this situation as ‘unacceptable and unfair’ and now, ‘thanks to the pressure exerted and following public complaints and formal claims’, the Ministry of the Interior ‘has been forced to rectify the situation and proceed with the payment of the outstanding amounts’.
According to the union, this payment was authorised last Friday, and the officers have now begun to receive the money they had to advance.
For Jupol, this is ‘a step forward, but one that should not hide the serious lack of foresight and institutional neglect to which the government subjects national police officers’. The union has demanded that cases like this do not happen again and that, to this end, the royal decree regulating officers’ allowances be updated urgently so that they receive ‘amounts adjusted to the real cost of living in destinations such as the Balearics’.
It has also called for a ‘comprehensive reform’ of the payment system, ‘which has been in a state of collapse for years and creates unacceptable precarious situations for national police officers on secondment’.
‘It is intolerable that the government is playing with the money of national police officers, who are once again being deceived and forced to finance services out of their own pockets that should be covered by the Interior Ministry. We demand the immediate payment of all outstanding allowances and a firm commitment that this situation will not happen again,’ Jupol said.