The delegate of the Government in the Valencian Community. Pilar Bernabé, together with the General Chief of the Sixth Zone, Arturo Prieto, presided over the commemorative events of the day of the patron saint of the Civil Guard.
Bernabé has highlighted the actions developed by the Armed Institute in the fight against the new criminal typologies. At this point, the delegate said that “technology and its challenges are the order of the day, crimes on the network continually challenge the Civil Guard.” Thus, while in 2022 10,470 crimes related to cybercrime were recorded in the Valencian Community, from January to September 2023, 13,864 crimes are already registered within the jurisdiction of the Civil Guard: an increase of 32.4%.
In addition, the delegate has highlighted the role of the Civil Guard in the eradication of gender violence. In the first quarter of the year alone, according to Barnabas, reports of gender violence have increased by 17%. As of September 2023, the Civil Guard has registered 6,784 complaints in the Valencian Community. The delegate has indicated that “the Civil Guard is immersed in a daily struggle against this social scourge.” He also highlighted the Civil Guard’s fight against hate crimes “which they fight to maintain the democratic parameters that guarantee the democratic coexistence of the citizens”. From January to September of this year, the Benemérita has registered 111 hate crimes in the Valencian Community. While last year a total of 147 hate crimes were accounted for from January to December. Bernabé has indicated that the Civil Guard “has always been on the side of the citizens” in “so difficult” situations, derived from the “undeniable consequences of climate change”, such as the fires that devastated the Comunitat in 2022 and 2023.
The Valencian Community has 7,417 active agents, of which 794 are women. According to the delegate, the presence of women in the Civil Guard has increased by 18.7% in the area. Bernabé congratulated the Armed Institute for “the progressive incorporation of women, showing that the glass ceilings are broken” and encouraged “to continue working for real and effective equality”.
In terms of infrastructure, the Ministry of the Interior plans investments of more than €18.7 million in the Comunitat aimed at improving and renovating the quartering facilities in the three provinces; and the projects of the new quartering facilities in Almassora (Castellón) and San Juan de Alicante.
The Civil Guard is present and guarantees security in 515 municipalities of the Valencian Community, which means that it protects people from 90% of the Valencian territory and almost half of its total population.
The delegate recalled that the Civil Guard is one of the security forces “most loved and best valued by the citizenry” for “effectiveness, professionalism and exemplification”. Spain, as he said, needs the Civil Guard “to remain a diverse, plural and egalitarian society, and one of the safest countries in the world”.
On this day, 44 decorations of the Order of Merit of the Civil Guard have been awarded. Among the winners is the patrol that intervened in the fire at the Moncada nursing home in January 2022. The delegate thanked “the rapid intervention that was essential in the face of the very dangerous and terrible situation experienced by residents and workers.”