The mayor of Arrecife is right when he says that there are "more important issues in the city" than the confrontation between councilor Isabel Martinón and two local police officers. However, that doesn't...
The mayor of Arrecife is right when he says that there are "more important issues in the city" than the confrontation between councilor Isabel Martinón and two local police officers. However, that cannot serve as an excuse to ignore an episode that goes far beyond a discussion about a traffic ticket. The issue is not that a councilor's car was taken by the tow truck, but that, according to the officers, she tried to prevent them from doing their job by alluding to her status as a council member, and then confronted them, refusing to remove the vehicle.
The news of this altercation was the most read of the day on lavozdelanzarote.com and the second most visited of the entire week, and such citizen interest is also something that politicians should reflect on. Because sometimes, the feeling of impunity or privileges of public officials generates more citizen outrage than any other issue.
Maybe it's true that Martinón's case is not new, and other public officials from the capital's City Council or other institutions on the island do the same, thinking that a council member or advisor title gives them more rights than the rest of the citizens. But if some are really used to that, the best thing that can happen is for the police to start acting and measuring everyone by the same standard.
If an officer asks any citizen to remove their car from a prohibited parking spot, they will obey and even be grateful for having avoided the tow truck taking their vehicle to the municipal depot. Because even if they plead, protest, or file an appeal against a fine, before a police order, the vast majority of ordinary people simply comply, especially if the officers are right and the car is parked where it shouldn't be.
And if what Isabel Martinón really intends to say is that the local police of Arrecife issue fines that are not appropriate, act arbitrarily, or harass a particular individual, there would be even more reason for the City Council's government group to take this issue seriously. Especially when, in addition, it is the second episode in just over a month that confronts a councilor from the capital's government and members of the Local Police.
On the previous occasion, the protagonist was the PP councilor Joel Delgado, and the events occurred on New Year's Eve. According to an officer, he was doing a routine patrol in a local establishment when the councilor rebuked him and told him to leave, brandishing "a badge" to make it clear that he was not talking to just anyone, but to a council member of the City Council, and telling him that "he would find out on Monday who he was."
At the time, Joel Delgado gave a very different version, and assured that what he did was call the officer's attention for being inside a bar in the early morning, implying that he might be drinking and enjoying the party instead of doing his job, and that the officer's testimony only responded to revenge for that.
However, if what the councilor says is true, what should have been done is to act immediately against the police officer. And the issue is not that a councilor finds him at night and calls his attention, but that a disciplinary file should be opened if what he claims is true.
Because the councilors of the Arrecife City Council are simply that, councilors. And they are not there to confront the police in the streets or premises of the city. In any case, if they consider that improper behaviors are occurring, their obligation would be to report it and initiate the appropriate procedures against the officer in question.
And the same should apply to the case of Isabel Martinón. Because if they try to insinuate that there is some kind of persecution by the Local Police of Arrecife or certain officers against councilors of the government group of Arrecife, it would also be necessary to act immediately as appropriate, because the issue would be far from trivial.
However, the response of the government group has been to minimize the facts, and encourage that a shadow of doubt remains on both sides. And that, as anecdotal as these cases may seem, is undoubtedly the worst option.