Back to the Policía Local, whose senior police officer, Mateo Franco, was replaced as Head of the municipal police after falling out with the politically appointed department head, who is none other than the above mentioned lady, of course.

The new senior police officer is Manuel F. Ledesma, who resigned from that same post six years ago.

Apparently, this swap was foreseen but was hastily brought forward after a verbal disagreement between the outgoing police official and the Councillor for Citizen Safety.
Ledesma has been part of the local police force since 1990 and was promoted in 2001 after taking part in a selection course for the top post.

However, on the 24th of May 2005 he handed in his resignation owing to the ‘differences of opinion held’ with the Mayor’s office and the then Councillor for Citizen Safety, Daniel Barbero (more about him too, later).
Consequently, the Mayor, in a mayoral edict declared that as sub-inspector is the maximum rank within the Policía Local, and that basically only someone with this rank could occupy the top post, Ledesma would lose his rank as acting-sub-inspector upon leaving the post.

Ledesma was not a happy bunny and took the affair to court, resulting in 2006 in the Town Hall having to pay out 30,000 euros in pay arrears to Ledesma. Only 6,000 was ever paid over, because, according to Ledesma, the municipal budget didn’t have that much spare floating around.

(News: Almunecar, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)