The regional deputy of CC and mayor of Teguise, Oswaldo Betancort, who in the last Plenary Session of the City Council acknowledged the lack of troops of the Local Police and admitted that he cannot "guarantee" the presence of agents during the weekend in the municipality, this Thursday in Parliament has attacked the shortage of members of the Civil Guard in Lanzarote and their absence in La Graciosa, which administratively depends on the Consistory he chairs. "It's a real disgrace," he said during his speech.
Betancort had addressed the Minister of Justice and Security of the Government of the Canary Islands, Julio Pérez, asking to increase the number of Civil Guard troops on both islands, as well as to establish a permanent detachment of the Benemérita on the eighth island. “There is no response and we do not believe that installing a fixed base of the Civil Guard on the island of La Graciosa will improve the situation,” he says the minister has replied.
According to Betancort, the response is “as fateful as it is disheartening, since he neither considers the fixed presence of Civil Guard troops necessary nor can he do anything to demand the demands of the people of Lanzarote and Graciosa from the Government of Spain, led by the Socialist Party.”
“We are talking about an inhabited and tourist island, recognized by our Statute of Autonomy, but which does not have any State Security Corps and the only help we have in terms of security is that of our Local Police,” he questioned. Regarding the Local Police, it should be remembered that La Graciosa only has one agent, who is not replaced when he is on vacation or on days off, as residents have repeatedly reported.
In Parliament, Betancort has offered the municipal offices of the City Council he chairs, pointing out that "they could be technologically adapted for access to the Comprehensive Operational Management System (SIGO) of the Civil Guard, collect complaints and transfer a couple of civil guards with their corresponding relays from Costa Teguise to La Graciosa, and thus we would achieve a fixed presence and operability.” In addition, he has questioned “the lack of troops that also suffers throughout Lanzarote", stating that "currently there are about 290 agents, when 580 are required".
“Lanzarote does not have a maritime service boat either, and the closest one has its base in Corralejo, which takes two to three hours to reach La Graciosa if sea conditions are good,” explains Betancort, who recalled “the migratory rebound we are suffering.” “What is being done with La Graciosa is a true injustice, a true abandonment of citizens of law who pay the same taxes as the rest of the Canary Islanders,” he concluded.
