Despite having 100,000 registered inhabitants, Torrevieja continues to be one of the few cities of that size in Spain that does not have a National Police presence. Unlike Orihuela, with fewer registered residents, the salt city has been demanding more police officers to join the existing Civil Guard for decades. So much so that, since 2005, the Ministry of the Interior has had land to build a police station that would house the National force.
Given the evident non-compliance of the central government in not using the transferred plot in the terms agreed upon so many years ago, the council has decided to unilaterally terminate the agreement and revert the lot on Avenida de las Habaneras back into municipal property.
The council has not specified for what purpose it intends to use the land. The location of the National Police station was considered ideal at this location in the Torrevieja urban area, as it had the Civil Guard barracks and the courts close by. The plot’s most recent building was a multipurpose building, which was originally going to be used as the Holy Week Museum.
Eduardo Dolón has consistently demanded more police officers be stationed in the city in the face of the increase in crime, in some cases with special emphasis on the difficult to control phenomenon of the top manta. ‘Looky looky men,’ that take over the main seafront promenades. So for now, the National Police, will simply continue with the issuance of identity documents from the municipal offices assigned to them on Calle Arquitecto Larramendi.
