When you see a policeman in civvies, it’s normally because he’s off duty or on plain-clothes detail – not so in Santa Fe, just outside Granada.

According to sources in Santa Fe, there are at least five policemen carrying out their duty in civvies because they simply do not have uniforms, such is the state of things in that municipality.

And it is not for the want of trying, because they have requested uniforms on at least thirty occasions in recent years. Other policemen on that force – Santa Fe has 17 local policemen – wear their summer uniforms even at the time of year because it is less worn; less threadbare.

The Town Hall has the obligation to issue them with new uniforms every two years, but the crisis, as we all know, has been going on a lot longer than that and there is simply no money.

But it’s not just uniforms that are in short supply; they are lacking ammunition, bulletproof vests and even handcuffs.

Editorial comment: Bet you a pound to a penny that the Mayor and councillors aren’t forgoing their salaries to the full…

(News: Santa Fe, Granada, Andalucia)