The maximum available for security reinforcement by the Guardia Civil during the busy season at Torrevieja’s main post, one of the busiest in all of Spain, is approximately 200 officers, a figure that has been repeated year after year. The Subdelegate of the Government, Juan Antonio Nieves, and the Mayor of Torrevieja, Eduardo Dolón, along with the commanders of the Guardia Civil, Local Police, and the National Police DNI documentation office, convened the usual meeting of the local security board prior to the summer. Nieves stated that the total number of Guardia Civil officers in the city is not publicly available but that the list is full. That is, every position is occupied.
Incentives
Torrevieja will have 170 permanent officers and approximately 15 trainees this summer, along with a reinforcement of the Guardia Civil’s Citizen Security Unit (USECIC). There will be about 200 police officers in total. The Alicante Command plans to add eleven new posts to the catalogue by September, bringing the total number of permanent officers to 181. The Alicante Command has introduced a new policy that offers cash incentives to officers who request holiday leave outside of the summer season. This figure will therefore be accurate, with no vacancies.
Insufficient
Dolón pointed out that the number of policemen, which is not disclosed, does not reflect either the municipality’s real population or the city’s residential tourist occupancy rate during the high seasons of July and August, which extend into much of September and the month of June. He suggested that the government should alter this statistic, which, according to the census, is currently approximately 107,000 people, while the National Statistics Institute says it is 96,000. However, actual occupancy could surpass 400,000 during the first half of August.
Torrevieja’s crime rate has climbed by 6%, which the sub-delegate attributed to increased activity at the city’s major Guardia Civil post. Nieves did not indicate the timeframe during which this increase happened. Initially, the numbers were higher for offences involving document forgery and trespassing.
Furthermore, Torrevieja has seen a 22% increase in the number of incidences of gender-based violence reported in just one year. The Guardia Civil is assisted in this area by the local police. Ninety additional cases are being monitored, increasing the total to 639. Of these, 530 are active, while the remaining are termed “inactive,” requiring less intensive monitoring.
Plainclothes agents
The Government Subdelegate stated that the request for plainclothes officers must be processed by the City Council through an official administrative procedure, “a regulated process,” which is then forwarded to the Government Delegation in Valencia and evaluated based on the criteria established by the State Secretariat for Security, which will make the final decision. On paper, the Local Police do not perform citizen security tasks in Torrevieja.
The Mayor highlighted that the request was made at the local security meeting prior to the summer of 2024 and is documented in the meeting minutes. This assistance would be used not only to monitor gender-based violence, but also to levy fines for unauthorised sales by street sellers on the streets, as well as to monitor theft in congested locations such as the flea market.
The coordination conference also enables for the development of appropriate security measures for significant City Council-organized events, such as RBF Festival performances in Antonio Soria Park or Brilla Torrevieja, among others.
Street sellers
Torrevieja City Council has launched a massive campaign to reduce the number of unauthorised street vendors in public places along the promenades, particularly on Paseo Juan Aparicio, with up to three or four patrols on weekends. This deployment was made possible by a significant change in how the local police force operates. The old commissioner’s forced retirement paved the door for authorising overtime—which is now paid with less hesitancy, more quickly, and with an expected total hours—and for new officers joining the force to be registered through employment agencies in neighbouring towns.
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