The tug-o-war match between the Salobreña Town Hall and the Policía Local has been around at least a decade, no matter who the Mayor is.

The police have constantly complained that they are lacking personnel and means; their vehicles are falling apart and dangerous and there are never enough police officers to cover all of their assigned tasks.

It was like this under Menéndez (PP) during the first decade of the second millennium and it’s still like this under Rufino (PSOE), close to the end of the second decade.

After the protest outside the Town Hall last month where they demanded the resignation of the Police Chief, the Mayor, María Eugenia Rufino, announced that she recognised that there are not enough personnel. Yet she considers that the noisy protest was a “manipulation” of the situation because there has never been, she claims, a breakdown in negotiations.

According to the Mayor, the municipal police force comprises of 30 personnel, but only 15 of them are available, which is especially problematic during the summer when the town triples its population.

She said that claims made by the police that their vehicles do not have a valid ITV certificate are not true, what’s more they would soon have two new, fully equipped vehicles.

Finally, she said that despite her predisposition to negotiate and solve the problems, lately the problems have been more of a personal nature and about salaries, which, she said, the police union is keeping quiet about.

“Only five police officers are covering the summer period between them whilst other put obstacles in the way of things working normally,” she concluded.

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