Reductions made by the Government to the number of police assigned to the port of Motril has attracted considerable criticism. A spokesperson for the workers at the port said that this 50% cut in policing manpower was both detrimental for the Melilla-ferry users and the residents of the port area in general.

The cuts are almost contradictory to how well the port is actually doing, with 7% growth and 6m-euro turn over; or put another way, with 80,000 ferry passengers since July. The fact is that although the port is a private entity, the security services (policing) provided is not, and as in all public sectors, cuts are being made.

Work-contracts for twelve security guards and two administrative workers that are up for renewal this year but the cuts will mean that they will not be renewed and the posts will be lost.

The port needs 32 security guards for normal functioning and up to now this has been covered by 16 permanent posts and 16 posts with temporary-renewable contracts, so the loss of 12 posts will be a huge blow to the policing requirements of these installations.

But it’s not just Motril Port where these cuts are being made, but in many ports across the land: in Sevilla, for example protesting workers have just completed the 9th day of sit-in protests against these very same kind of cuts.

Even without these cuts, the port is sometimes undermanned, with the entrance to the fishing-fleet side of the port area being locked because there was no-one to man it.

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