The president of the Consell Insular de Formentera, Óscar Portas, met this Thursday with the delegate in the Balearic Islands of the Spanish Association of Civil Guards (AEGC), Iván Fidalgo, to analyze the situation of the security forces on the island and, especially, the lack of Civil Guard troops, a lack that has been dragging on for years.
The meeting is part of the ongoing institutional dialogue maintained by the Consell Insular to learn firsthand the needs of the staff and seek solutions to improve public safety in Formentera. During the meeting, Fidalgo expressly thanked the initiative of the Consell for the acquisition of a land for the construction of housing for agents, a measure that he described as key to respond to a historical and structural claim of the group.
According to the AEGC delegate, the lack of affordable housing and the high cost of living in Formentera significantly hinder the coverage and stability of the vacancies. In this sense, he valued positively the institutional effort to facilitate the rooting of the agents assigned to the island and was interested in the current status of the process of acquiring the site.
Likewise, Fidalgo raised the need for the Government to incorporate a specific complement for the agents assigned to Formentera, as an essential measure to guarantee the coverage of vacancies and the continuity of the staff in a territory with special difficulties due to its insularity.
Another of the issues addressed was the management of the arrival of migrants and boats. The representative of the AEGC warned of the insufficient human resources to deal with this reality, stressing that in Formentera the first attention falls directly on the Civil Guard in the absence of an operational service of the Red Cross. This circumstance forces to assign agents to these tasks every time there is an arrival, reducing the response capacity in other areas of security.
During the meeting, Fidalgo also regretted that during last summer the island did not have a Traffic detachment, despite repeated requests made by the island president.
For his part, Óscar Portas reiterated the firm commitment of the Consell Insular to public safety and support for the State security forces. The president agreed on the need to address these shortcomings from a coordinated and structural perspective, with the involvement of all the competent administrations.
Portas also stressed that constant communication and institutional collaboration are essential to provide an adequate response to the real needs of the citizens of Formentera and ensure an effective and stable security service on the island.
