Seven Local Police cars have their tires punctured

(Agencies/Photo: EuropaSur) LA LÍNEA - Councillor for Security Gabriel Gonzálvez denounced in a press release today that seven Local Police vehicles had had their tires punctured, an act of vandalism he attributed to "impudence of union pickets", adding that the incidents "occurred minutes after some unionists had been at the police station. We are not against the rights of the unions, but they aren not playing by the rules.">
EuropaSur contacted the provincial Local Police representative for the Comisiones Obreras union (CCOO), José Luis Aparicio, who denied any union participation and stated that they will be taking legal advice on the councillor's statement. "This councillor has 'lost the plot'," he added. "The unions are against any acts of vandalism. Further, CCOO has been denouncing for some time that the Local Police vehicles do not enjoy the necessary security as they are not locked up overnight. I think Gonzálvez has not thought his words through."


Aparico took the opportunity to declare that the Local Police cars continue "to not meet the standards demanded by the regulations for Andalucía", which is why the officers have begun to attend minor incidents on foot or by bus. "The Local Police will never refuse service to the citizenry, but we cannot continue to use the vehicles as though nothing was wrong. How are we supposed to fine someone when the vehicle transporting the officers doesn't meet regulations?" he asked.

Tensions between the Town Hall and the unions are on the increase as a result of the problems the Council is having with meeting municipal salaries. Demonstrations by frustrated workers have been ongoing for about a month, including confrontations with National Police riot squad, who have on several occasions stopped marchers from reaching the frontier with Gibraltar to cut off access to the Rock. On one of these, the protesters did manage to reach the frontier but did not enterthe Customs area there; instead they headed to the Palacio de Congresos, where the doors had been locked with handcuffs by the Local Police. Several participants in the march were able to open one of the doors and the Local Police on duty were unable to stop the demonstrators from entering the convention centre, where they accessed the Mayor's offices shouting demands for payment.

The unions attribute the problems to the "nefarious management of (previous Mayor) Juan Carlos Juárez, in which the present Mayor is a participant."