You didn’t know that he had one, right? But then again we’re not talking about the deceased tenor of that name, but a municipal policeman in Granada.

This policeman – evidently the most popular amongst his number – had his locker broken into in the police-station changing room and his pistol stolen, along with his badge and uniform. For good measure, somebody had written in large capitals “esquirol.” Linguistic optimists might think that this translates as squirrel, but it does in fact mean, “blackleg” or “scab;” i.e., somebody who chooses to work whilst his colleagues are on strike.

The theft took place over the weekend and by the following Tuesday the Cruz Roja had received an anonymous phone call to say the missing items were on top of a locker in the main changing room in the Granada Policía Local headquarters. The tip off was made from a phone booth and the caller used a device to distort his voice.

The missing items, together with a threatening note were found in a bag on top of one of the lockers where the caller said that it would be. The incident is now being investigated by the Policia Nacional.

Agent ‘Pavarotti,’ or Alejandro García, in the meantime has not been out patrolling in the municipal breakdown lorry (grua) but has remained, instead, in the main CCTV monitor room covering cameras around the city. He hasn’t been suspended; it’s just that he lacks a badge and a regulation firearm, explains his boss. He will be sanctioned, however, for keeping his pistol in his locker, rather than in the station armoury, as is the norm.

So, what’s it all about? Well, there are 33 policemen who are facing disciplinary action for having refused to turn up for work during La Toma de Granada (2nd January), which celebrates the fall of Granada to Christian troops in 1492, as well as for the Three Kings Parade on the 5th… Now you why he had esquirol scribbled over his locker.