Operation Summer, included in the package of measures and action plans for the summer period approved this Tuesday by the Council of Ministers, will start on July 1 and the police deployment will extend until August 31 in the autonomous communities of Andalusia, Asturias, Canary Islands, Cantabria, Comunitat Valenciana, Galicia, Madrid and Murcia, while in the case of the Balearic Islands it will be extended until September 30.
In these nine autonomous communities, the National Police will reinforce the staff of its Citizen Security units (which total 22,471 personnel) with 2,724 agents, mostly from the class that has just completed the training process at the National School of Ávila Police, who will be joined by specialists from their animal-based units such as Cavalry, and Canine Guides, among others.
As regards the Guardia Civil, the 41,537 agents assigned to Citizen Security units in the nine communities will be reinforced with another 1,683 troops who, voluntarily, have postponed the enjoyment of their vacations to a period other than the summer.
The delay in the start of the course at the Baeza Academy, which will conclude next September, has made it impossible for reinforcement to be drawn from students who conclude their training period, as in previous years.
This reinforcement makes it possible to increase the number of uniformed personnel in preventive police functions and facilitate their permanent presence in those areas of high tourist concentration that lack it outside of the summer season.
Safe tourist destination
According to data from the National Institute of Statistics, in the first three months of 2024 the number of international tourists who have visited Spain has increased by 17.7% compared to the same period of the previous year, exceeding 16.1 million tourists. The Ministry of the Interior is aware of the economic impact of tourism on the national economy, which is why it plans police operations aimed at providing peace of mind and confidence to national and foreign citizens who choose Spain as a tourist destination.
The police reinforcement planned for this summer will make it possible to increase surveillance and preventive control on urban and interurban communication routes, stations, ports, airports, hotels, beaches, and campsites and at events that involve a large concentration of people.
In addition, it will enhance crime prevention efforts, accelerate investigations by Judicial Police units and streamline and facilitate procedures in reporting offices, shortening waiting times and increasing levels of citizen service.
And all this combined with the measures corresponding to the current reinforced Level 4 anti-terrorist alert established in application of the Anti-terrorist Prevention, Protection and Response Plan. This threat has been consistently set at level 4 for some time.
Added to this Summer Operation is the reinforcement that the Guardia Civil and the National Police will allocate to the surveillance of the Camino de Santiago in their respective areas of territorial deployment.
For its part, the General Directorate of Traffic will launch the Special Traffic Operations Campaign corresponding to the summer of 2024 to improve road safety levels during the summer months, in which incident rates increase, scheduled departure and return dates of vacation periods, weekends and festive dates.
Likewise, the DGT will launch special campaigns in relation to the control of alcohol and drugs, motorcycles and vans, speed, as well as distracted driving. To carry out these activities, the Traffic Group of the Guardia Civil has 5,859 troops, supported by the force’s command offices distributed throughout the national territory.
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