The delegate of the Government in the Canary Islands, Anselmo Pestana, and the insular director of the General Administration of the State in La Palma, Carlos García, closely follow the organization of the reinforced device of Forces and Security Bodies of the State (FCSE) to guarantee the security of the Festival Lustrales de la Bajada de la Virgen de Las Nieves, which will be held from June 29 to August 9.

Within the framework of the events organized this week by the Government Delegation in the two Canary Islands provinces, Anselmo Pestana and Carlos García have delivered today at the headquarters of the Insular Directorate in La Palma an honorable mention to the private security professional Fernando Rodríguez, as part of the recognitions granted by the Civil Guard and National Police to this professional group that will also work to guarantee security in the Fiestas Lustrales.

Some 300 Civil Guard (including a reinforcement of agents from the Traffic Group) and National Police (equipped, among others, with a team of drones and a helicopter) will participate in the reinforcement of the police presence for the security device of the Fiestas Lustrales, with special attention to the days of greatest influx, on June 29 and July 10, 12 and 13.

“I am convinced that once again La Palma is going to be an example with a safe and quiet Fiestas Lustrales within the celebration. There is a great desire to celebrate on the island after ten years without Bajada de la Virgen, having been suspended five years ago due to the pandemic. But to all of those desires, palm trees and palm trees are going to add the necessary dose of responsibility and tranquility, in all respects, also in road trips,” says the government delegate.

“To accompany it, as it could not be otherwise, from the Government Delegation and in coordination with our Island Directorate and our National Police and Civil Guard commanders we have proposed an important security device that meets all the needs of the island. We work not only to ensure that there is effective security, but also to ensure that neighbors and neighbors, merchants and visitors feel safe. And in this, private security also plays a very important role,” he adds.

Anselmo Pestana also highlights that the Government of Spain has guaranteed in recent years the presence of Civil Guard and National Police in La Palma, with an increase of 2% compared to 2017, having registered a greater increase in the two years after the eruption of the volcano. “It is clear that the Security Forces and Corps alone are not enough, so we also call for the need to properly size the staffs of the other police forces,” he says.

A crime rate that is less than half of the national average

Data from the Ministry of the Interior show that La Palma recorded in the first quarter of 2025 a crime rate (crimes per 1,000 inhabitants) of 23.9, less than half compared to 50.2 of the national average, and located as the second island of the Canary archipelago with the lowest data after El Hierro.

In addition, in the first quarter of this year there has been a decrease in criminal acts of about 20% compared to the first quarter of 2024, a figure that continues with the downward line of criminal acts recorded throughout 2024, which fell by 10.7% compared to the entire year 2023.

The Government Delegation in the Canary Islands and the Island Directorate in La Palma, in collaboration with the State Security Forces and Corps, continuously monitors crime data to ensure that the island remains a safe environment, in which palm trees can also feel safe.