The government delegate in Cantabria, Eugenia Gómez de Diego, assured on Wednesday that “serious events do not go unpunished” in Torrelavega and defended the “constant reinforcement” of police means in the city.
After the celebration of a Local Security Board motivated by the last event registered in the municipality, Gómez de Diego said he shared the citizen’s concern about what happened last Monday, and stressed that both the Government Delegation and the State Security Forces and Bodies “are working from the first minute”.
In this regard, he has detailed that Torrelavega has a reinforcement of the National Police, including units of the Citizen Action Group, Patrols Z, Intervention, Prevention and Reaction Units, and has also had the support of the staff of the Provincial Judicial Police Brigades, with specialized research work; and of the Scientific Police.
To all of them and to all of the State Security Forces and Corps, as well as the Local Police, he wanted to take the opportunity to thank "their effort, their work and their dedication." As a result of this work, he said, there have been seven arrests, of which six people remain in pre-trial detention.
Next week, four new chief inspectors will join the Torrelavega Police Station, who will lead the Judicial Police, Scientific Police, Aliens and Citizen Security units. To this will be added the arrival of a sub-inspector and five new agents. In addition, he has announced that the Ministry of the Interior has already approved an increase in the list of posts in the workforce with five new positions.
These additions were already planned and form part of the "road map" and the "commitment" of the Government of Spain presided over by Pedro Sánchez, who since the beginning of his mandate has been increasing the number of National Police and Civil Guard troops until reaching the historic maximum.
Troop historical ceiling
On the political level, Gómez de Diego has responded to the criticisms of the councilor of the Popular Party, Miguel Vargas, who has accused him of making “irresponsible” statements and of using the events “to scratch some vote”. In his speech, he recalled that during the mandate of the PP in Torrelavega “twice as many robberies were committed as at present”, data that he described as “measurable and verifiable”.
He has also reproached the PP for the loss of 13,000 police personnel throughout the country during his years of government, and has pointed out that since the arrival of Pedro Sánchez to the Executive in 2018, this situation has been reversed, now reaching “the historic ceiling” of National Police personnel in Cantabria.
Finally, he highlighted the commitment of the Government of Spain to strengthening public security and highlighted the recent approval on Tuesday of a new public employment offer with more places for the National Police and Civil Guard, which will also benefit Cantabria and, specifically, Torrelavega.
The Mayor, Javier López Marcano; the first deputy mayor, José Luis Urraca; the Councilor for Security, Pedro Pérez Noriega; the Superior Chief of the National Police in Cantabria, Carmen Martínez, as well as representatives of the Civil Guard and Local Police have participated in the Security Board.