Perhaps when somebody mentions “Santa Fe” it conjures up stagecoaches and hold ups, but it is, of course, a nearby town to Granada. No, there are no six-guns and bullets flying there, in fact, there are no bullets at all, complain the Policía Local.

The police union for municipal police forces, Sipan, complain that the Santa Fe local police have no bullets for their regulation handguns, haven’t been anywhere near a firing range in donkey’s years and… don’t have any functioning walkie-talkies.

But it doesn’t stop there, either because half of them don’t have any handcuffs, they’re having to wear summer uniforms in the middle of winter for lack of uniform and the bloody patrol cars are falling apart, as well as lacking basic kit such as traffic cones, thermal blankets and first-aid kits.

And whose fault is it? Why, the Councillor for Citizen Safety, they say, as he is the civilian head of the local police force and responsible for making sure that sufficient funding is provided from the municipal coffers.

The said councillor, Manuel Gil, recognises all this as to be true but says that it should all be sorted out before January is out, counting on the 2014 budget.

Three cheers for Manny the Not Many!

(News: Santa Fe, Granada, Andalucia)