New places for police and firefighters announced

The government yesterday approved the immediate creation of 750 places for new Mossos d’Esquadra police officers and 250 places for firefighters. Yet, the announcement did not stop members of both forces from continuing their protests.

In fact, interior minister, Miquel Buch, required an escort in leaving his office in the face of a protest by some 200 Mossos police officers, who had gathered outside the interior department to protest the lack of progress in the talks about their working conditions.

Buch announced the new places in a press conference, saying the recruitment drive would be paid for out of an emergency fund in the 2018 budget. According to Buch, the whole government had made an “effort” to recover places through retirements “to prevent them accumulating” in the security and emergency services. Buch also said that one of his aims is to increase the number of women in the police force, which stands at 20%.

On this week’s protests, which prevented him from leaving his office for hours, Buch said it was due to a “complaint” from the unions, which he said already knew his department could not provide “any solution” to their call for police salaries to match those of firefighters because they are waiting for the green light from the treasury. a