O Grove, September 25, 2024.- The subdelegate of the Government in Pontevedra, Abel Losada, presided this morning the Xunta Local de Seguridad in the City of O Grove, together with the mayor of the town, José Antonio Cacabelos. The Lieutenant Colonel of the Civil Guard, Óscar Grañas, at the head of the Provincial Command of Pontevedra, and other leaders of Traffic, Local Police and municipal security also attended.
The meeting was held on the occasion of the security and traffic operation that will be deployed from October 3 to 13 on the occasion of the celebrations of the 61st edition of the Seafood Festival. However, those responsible also analyzed the crime figures of the town during the first eight months of the year.
Abel Losada reviewed the operation of security and traffic designed for the good development of these celebrations, which will be based on the implementation of traffic controls and special operations in the accesses to the town and the activation of alcohol and drug controls to the vehicles that move to the villa. Local police officers will also ensure the smooth running of the festive activities.
As indicated at the meeting, the Seafood Festival is one of the most crowded festivals in the province of Pontevedra and Galicia, so the large influx requires close coordination in terms of security and traffic, despite the fact that it is a family party little linked to nightlife, which does not usually register important incidents. In the last edition, some 120,000 people attended, as recorded for the first time through the use of Big Data technology that takes into account the geolocation of mobile telephony.
Crime drops 2.2% in 2024
The meeting also analyzed the crime rates of the municipality from January to August 2024. The subdelegate stressed that “following the provincial trend, this is a good year in which it respects crime, since the total number of crimes decreased in the municipality by 2.2% with respect to the same period of the previous year.” A decrease that occurs in all prison typologies, since serious and less serious crimes fall by 3.48%, minor crimes are reduced by 1.27%, and administrative infractions registered a decrease of almost 40%.
Abel Losada explained that “as is happening in the rest of the province, it is noted that the summer was especially favorable, as there was a stagnation of crime figures, which translate into this reduction in the annual crime balance.” The subdelegate stressed that “there is no doubt that O Grove is a very safe town hall, despite the large population and numerous visitors it receives in summer.”
In this line, the mayor himself reaffirmed that, despite the fact that the number of visitors grows every summer since the pandemic and already exceeded 50,000 tourists in 2024, the crime figures are favorable and O Grove is a quiet and safe municipality.
Abel Losada also reported on the results of the Master Plan for Coexistence and Security in the Environment of Educational Centers, that is, the program of training sessions of the Civil Guard and the National Police for students, mothers and fathers and teachers. During the past year, 38,000 people participated, but the Government Subdelegation is committed to increasing the number of mothers and fathers who request specific talks in order to train in the protection of their sons and daughters from the threats of crime, both through digital technologies and in a physical way. And to achieve this, it is inviting the municipalities to lead these calls by grouping all the ANPAs of each municipality for the realization of joint activities in a municipal premises with the greatest possible number of parents.