The Sectorial Coordinator of Protection and Security of the Unified Association of Civil Guards (AUGC) has formally urged the Ministry of Health of the Government of the Canary Islands to take urgent measures to resolve the insecurity in the transport of inmates to medical centers. In this regard, they regret that "a letter sent seven months ago regarding this same problem has not received any response from the regional authorities."
Currently, transfers from the penitentiary centers of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Las Palmas, and Tahíche force civil guards to guard inmates in hospital corridors and waiting rooms, creating highly vulnerable situations. "This worrying dynamic is shared in other commands in the national territory, which recently led us to demand identical measures for the Antequera Hospital in Malaga," they state.
"The Command Headquarters of Santa Cruz de Tenerife itself shares our concern, describing the current facilities as quite improvable from the perspective of security and privacy," they point out. Thus, they warn that trips to extra-penitentiary centers notably increase the danger of escape, representing 60% of escapes in 2024, according to data from Penitentiary Institutions.
On the other hand, they recall that the integration of penitentiary health services into the regional National Health System, pending for more than two decades, "would improve the care of inmates and avoid thousands of unnecessary police transfers, a measure that has the firm support of the National Prevention Mechanism."
Therefore, they request the creation of a specific and secure space within the Canary Islands hospital facilities to house inmates awaiting medical attention, as well as the rigorous compliance with Instruction 5/2009 of the Secretary of State for Security, prioritizing the medical consultation of inmates.
They also demand the imminent start of negotiations by the Government of the Canary Islands to assume the responsibilities of penitentiary health.
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