PALMA
BALEARIC security chiefs yesterday revealed that an extra 319 members of the National Police and Guardia Civil have been deployed to the region this summer to tighten security as part of the annual Summer Operation.
The nationwide holiday police operation was mounted on July 1 and will remain active until the end of September.
The annual security operation is controlled by the Interior Ministry and here in the Balearics, the number of extra members of the security forces deployed to the region will swell again when the Royal protection unit arrives to guard the Spanish royal family.
Over the past few weeks, an advanced unit of the Royal protection squad has been setting up operations at their base near the Marivent Palace compound.
King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia are expected to fly to Majorca at the start of their summer holidays towards the end of next week and during the course of their holiday, the King and Queen will be joined by the rest of the royal family and guests.
Security will be also be extremely tight round the two summer meetings the King traditionally holds at the palace with the Spanish Prime Minister, in this case Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. However, for the bulk of the extra police, their primary duties are ensuring the protection and safety of the general public and the millions of tourists who will be coming to the islands this summer.
Members of specialist units such as anti-terrorism, organised crime, narcotics and bomb disposal have been sent to boost existing units based in the Balearics and the presence of the extra police is noticeable.
At ports and airports, security patrols have been significantly stepped up while in the busiest tourist resorts and where there are large congregations of people the security forces are on the beat in force.
The traffic police have also stepped up their operations.
No comments
To be able to write a comment, you have to be registered and logged in
Currently there are no comments.