The Spanish Association of Civil Guards (AEGC) denounces, once again, the lack of agents in Lanzarote, stating that “there are nights when there is only one patrol for the entire island.”
“In Lanzarote we are overwhelmed, at a minimum, because more services, more ghost units, come out every day, so many guards have to dedicate themselves to that instead of patrolling the streets,” explains José Cobo, spokesman for AEGC.
From the association they say that at night there are usually between two and three patrols, some days four, although more exceptionally. However, during holiday periods such as summer, there are days when the number is reduced to a single patrol for all of Lanzarote.
“When there is no Civil Guard personnel in the Tahíche prison to take the inmates out and take them to the hospital or to trials, the citizen security patrols do it, so if there were two patrols that night, only one is left patrolling the streets,” says Cobo. “This ends up being detrimental to the citizen.”
A situation that worsens in the months of July and August
Summer is one of the most difficult periods of the year for the Benemérita troops, since their staff is greatly reduced, among other things, due to vacations.
“With the arrival of summer, the staff will be reduced by 33% due to vacation periods, which will overload the agents who remain providing the service,” the association explains. “Until now it has operated below 35% as a result of the pandemic, but the new situation, with open borders and total freedom of movement, the island expects to recover the number of visitors.”
Added to this problem is the visit of former President Zapatero, which requires two full-time guards by his side during his stay in Lanzarote. “In the end you end up taking two guards off patrolling the streets to be with him for a month and a half,” explains Cobo. “In the past they brought them from outside, but not anymore, now that service is covered by those from here.”
From the association they affirm that “criminality does not really increase” sharply in summer, because in the end there is tourism in Lanzarote all year round, but they warn that “it does tend to increase in tourist areas, such as Puerto del Carmen or Costa Teguise”.
“Tourists spend more time outside and have very specific schedules, so it is easier to steal in an apartment in Arrecife, where people live their lives and come and go,” explains José Cobo.
Lanzarote does not have a summer operation
Therefore, they defend the need to create a summer operation in Lanzarote, since “the Canary Islands is the only autonomous community that does not have this type of plan.”
In the coastal areas with the highest influx of tourism on the peninsula, including the Balearic Islands, an operation is carried out where people from the interior are commissioned, that is, places are created so that Civil Guard personnel who want to provide service in those tourist areas can go to work with allowances included.
“Here in Lanzarote this operation has never been carried out on the assumption that the whole year is high season for tourism, we are overwhelmed,” says Cobo. “It has not occurred to anyone to reinforce the service, even with agents from outside, despite the fact that the island expects to receive some 9 million travelers in the months of July and August.”
The Spanish Association of Civil Guards admits that they do not know the reasons for this refusal. “I don't know if it will be due to funds, but we have been denouncing it for years and there is no way to make it a reality,” they add.
However, José Cobo points out that with the allowances established at the national level it would not be enough to cover the expenses of the guards on the island, since “the expenses are higher.” “It is not attractive, if with 72 euros a day you think you are going to find accommodation and eat, it will be very difficult and there is also the difficulty of finding a home.”
Therefore, he maintains that “it is very difficult to attract people if there is no increase”, although he insists that if it became a reality, many Canarians who live on the peninsula would go to the summer operation to stay at their relatives' homes. “It is a good solution, since there would be many Canarians who would say, look, even if I don't get allowances, at least I'm at home for a while,” says the AEGC spokesman.
The solution: a 20% increase in staff
Faced with this complicated situation, the AEGC spokesman believes that the solution would be to increase the Lanzarote staff by between 20% and 30%.
“This year they have only released 1,600-odd places for the Civil Guard throughout the country, of which some 60 or 50 come to the province of Las Palmas to be distributed between Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote,” explains José Cobo. “They come to us in dribs and drabs, so a minimum increase of 20% would be fine.”
In addition, the association wanted to remember the “lack of personnel” suffered by the island's airport, which “occupies number 12 in the ranking in traveler movement, with two flight terminals in addition to the cargo area.” “Since a civil guard does not have the gift of ubiquity, the current staff cannot cover the minimum and essential services of the airport.” Therefore, the AEGC demands an “update of staff in reference to airport users.”
José Cobo insists that it is not a unique problem in Lanzarote, since there is a lack of workers throughout Spain. "The numbers that existed before the coronavirus crisis have not been recovered at all, for four or years there was only 10% of the replacement rate, imagine if 1,000 civil guards retire, only 100 entered, and this is recovering very, very slowly", says the spokesman.
Taser guns could prevent serious attacks
Likewise, the AEGC also maintains that, given the lack of personnel, taser guns could be good allies in arrests, since they would avoid the most serious altercations, as happened last Thursday at the César Manrique airport, when a British tourist attacked three Civil Guards, causing them to take medical leave. However, they admit that it is a very expensive tool and that it requires prior training.
“It is a tremendous amount of money economically, because each electric gun can be worth close to 1,200 euros and, each time you launch a discharge, that is, the electric harpoons, that is 60 euros,” says the AEGC spokesman.
For this reason, the association insists that it is not necessary for each guard to have a taser gun, but rather that about two or three could be purchased in each patrol and that they be relieved. “At least have one on the street to avoid attacks,” adds Cobo.
“We have been asking for them for years, but this is going to take a while,” he concludes.
