PP calls on the State to provide more resources and staff for the National Police on every island

The Popular Group has secured approval in the Joint Committee on Insularity for a motion to strengthen the National Police’s resources, facilities and staffing in the Canary Islands, despite a vote against it by the Socialist Group.

PP MP Juan Antonio Rojas argued during the debate that the Canary Islands needs “a National Police force with resources, facilities and staffing that match the islands’ real needs”. He also called on the State to introduce specific measures to offset the difficulties insularity creates in providing public services.

The motion sets out four specific measures. The first is to establish the Police Dog Unit planned for the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and provide it with the personnel and resources needed to operate effectively.

The second calls for a permanent documentation and immigration service in El Hierro and La Gomera, so residents do not have to travel to other islands to complete certain procedures. Rojas recalled that the Senate had already discussed the issue on 24 February, when it unanimously approved an agreement to improve National Police documentation services in El Hierro and establish a permanent unit. “We still do not know what steps the Government has taken to implement that agreement,” he said.

The third measure proposes a plan to refurbish and upgrade police premises with the most serious deficiencies. The motion focuses on facilities in La Laguna, Puerto de la Cruz-Los Realejos, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de La Palma, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.

The fourth calls for measures to improve staffing levels and stability, along with a review of the financial and professional incentives linked to insularity and hard-to-fill postings. “The Canary Islands face an additional challenge in filling and stabilising certain posts because of insularity and, especially, double insularity,” Rojas said. He argued that the State must ensure staffing is “adequate in size and stable”.

During the debate, Rojas challenged the Socialist Group to clarify its position, asking them “which of these four points they think the Canary Islands do not need”. “Do they think Santa Cruz de Tenerife does not need a Police Dog Unit? That residents of El Hierro and La Gomera should keep travelling to other islands for certain procedures? That police premises with deficiencies do not need work? Or that we should not take steps to improve staffing levels and stability?” he asked. “That, and nothing else, is what we are voting on,” the PP MP said.

The MP also highlighted the contrast between the Senate’s unanimous agreement in February and the PSOE’s rejection of the motion now debated by the Joint Committee on Insularity. “It would be reasonable to explain what has changed since February,” he said. “The problems have not gone away. The needs remain. And the Canary Islands still face the same difficulties caused by insularity.”

Rojas said that public safety requires planning, resources and the ability to respond, adding that recent circumstances had made clear the need for sufficient personnel and the capacity to reinforce staffing when necessary.

“We are not asking to wait until an extraordinary situation arises in the Canary Islands. We are asking for advance planning: to address deficiencies in our facilities, provide the necessary units and ensure staffing is adequate in size and stable,” he said.

In his view, the approved initiative also means “understanding insularity” and ensuring that all citizens can access the State’s public services, whichever island they live on.

“Living on an island must not mean having access to worse State public services. Citizens do not need us to keep diagnosing these problems. They need them to be solved,” the MP concluded.