The Canary Islands have again registered in 2024 the highest number of National Police and Civil Guard personnel since 2007, surpassing for the first time the 8,000 agents of State Security Forces (FCSE) in the archipelago, after an increase of 13% in the last seven years.
According to data from the Ministry of the Interior, the Canary Islands closed 2024 with 8,008 FCSE troops, 3,643 Civil Guard and 4,365 National Police, which represents an increase of 13% overall with respect to the number of agents deployed at the end of 2017.
These record figures are in line with the maximum levels in the total number of National Police and Civil Guard agents that have been registered throughout the country, thanks to the process of expansion of personnel launched by the Government in recent years.
Since 2018, the Ministry of the Interior has maintained the policy of convening more seats each year than the vacancies registered in the previous year, which, including the call for 2024, has resulted in an offer of 34,220 new seats for State Security Forces and Corps, compared to the loss of more than 13,700 seats in the period 2012-2017.
“The data show that the argument of the deficit in the presence of National Police and Civil Guard in our archipelago is not sustained. The data is the best answer. And the data show that every year the Canary Islands has more State Security Forces and Corps personnel, because the security of our islands is also a priority for the Government of Spain,” says the government delegate, Anselmo Pestana.
“We must remember that the Government applies a replacement rate for both the Civil Guard and the National Police of 125 percent, being the group of public employees to which the highest replacement rate applies. In 2024, a public job offer of 5,505 new State Security Forces and Corps positions was approved,” he adds.
The crime rate in the Canary Islands, which is measured by criminal offences per 1,000 inhabitants, remains 2.5 points below the national average at 48.1, whether taking into account the data of the archipelago as a whole or those of the two provinces.
The work of Security Forces and Corps in the archipelago also contributes to the Canary Islands continuing to improve their data on the clarification of criminal offenses, with 48.7% in 2024, three percentage points above the data recorded in 2017.