The Mossos d’Esquadra have opened a police station in Torredembarra (Tarragonès) after almost a decade claiming it.
About fifty police officers will work in the new equipment, providing service to nine municipalities in Baix Gaià.
The Minister of the Interior, Joan Ignasi Elena, visited this Friday the facilities that have been active since this Thursday and stated that it is “very necessary” equipment for the territory and assured that the staff will grow in the coming years within the framework of the planned expansion of the force’s agents throughout the country. The construction of the police station has cost 5.7 million euros and has suffered delays as a result of covid, among other conditions.
The new Torredembarra district police station serves nine municipalities in Baix Gaià, five of which are located inland and the remaining four on the coast. These are Altafulla, Roda de Berà, Creixell, Riera de Gaià, Nou de Gaià, Vespella de Gaià, Salomó, La Pobla de Montornès, apart from the municipality of Torredembarra itself. In this way, a search area of ??100 square kilometers is covered.
“It was very necessary to cover this space between three basic areas of the territory; I am sure that citizens will have much more attention from the Mossos d’Esquadra with the new equipment,” Elena stated.
According to the latest statistical data, nearly 42,000 people live in this territory, a figure that increases “considerably” during the summer months due to the tourist attraction of the area.
The new police station depends on the Tarragonès Basic Police Area and is made up of about fifty agents, commanded by a sub-inspector as head of the police station.
During his visit to the facilities, the Minister of the Interior highlighted that the staff will grow in the coming years within the framework of the planned expansion of the force throughout Catalonia.
“The forecast is to expand here and everywhere, the body is growing, from 17,000 to 22,000 agents, and now in August 850 more agents will join, and next June 850 more and, therefore, the growth will be generalized,” he indicated.
The new facilities began construction in September 2022 and had a cost of 5.7 million euros.
For his part, the mayor of Torredembarra, Eduard Rovira, celebrated the launch of the new police station and recalled that it is a long-sought facility. “Finally, we have achieved it, despite many circumstances over the last two mandates, including Covid and the variation in prices that have affected so many works,” stated the mayor. Likewise, Rovira has assured that from now on the Local Police will be able to dedicate themselves to carrying out more “proper” tasks, since citizen security will be “fully” the responsibility of the Catalan police.
Asked about the number of criminal acts in this area, Councilor Elena indicated that in Torredembarra they have grown around 5-6%, just as happened last year, according to data from the last Local Security Board.
However, the mayor of the municipality has stressed that this “rebound” is due to the growth of cybercrimes, which are the ones that “grow the most and distort the statistics.”
In fact, he has said that when this data is processed from the virtual police region, the figures of “little growth that has characterized us” in recent years will be “recovered.”
