The appearance of twelve AK-47 rifles in a Porsche Cayenne with French license plates on the AP-7, between Figueres and Borrassà, has reactivated a political demand in l'Alt Empordà that has been on the table for years: the creation of a Girona Nord Police Region to reinforce the presence and command structure of the Mossos d'Esquadra in the north of the demarcation.
The paradox that underscores this demand is that one of the areas with the most police pressure in Girona continues to depend on a single region for the entire demarcation. The county combines a border, major transit routes like the AP-7 and the N-II, railway lines, tourist pressure, and the Puig de les Basses penitentiary center, while town councils and county officials have been demanding their own organization for years.
The discovery of the Kalashnikovs reopens a request that dates back to 2021
The investigation opened by the Criminal Investigation Division of Girona into the origin and destination of the weapons coincides with other recent episodes in the county. Among them is the violent death of a woman in Figueres, with her ex-partner investigated for intentional homicide and breach of sentence.
Added to this is the deployment of more than 600 agents in several municipalities in Girona, including l'Escala, in an operation against marijuana trafficking networks, arms possession, and money laundering. The local debate is not limited to requesting more patrols, but a own regional structure to respond to a police load that is concentrated especially in the north of the province.
The demand took institutional shape in December 2021, when the councilors of Figueres Futur, led by Carles Arbolí, formally proposed creating a Girona Nord Police Region that would cover l'Alt Empordà. Their argument was that Girona remained the only Catalan demarcation with a single police region.
Even earlier, in October 2020, the then Minister of the Interior, Miquel Sàmper, visited Figueres and promised more Mossos d'Esquadra personnel for the city and the county. A year later, the inspector of the ABP of Figueres, Alfons Sánchez, explained that the Mossos had seized more than 70,000 marijuana plants in the Figueres area during that year and added that there was a shortage of vehicles for the service.
The County Council and Parliament took the demand to the Interior Ministry
During 2022, various local parties grouped in Tots per l'Empordà promoted motions in several town councils to demand the new police region from the Departament d'Interior. That same autumn, the Consell Comarcal de l'Alt Empordà approved a motion by Junts per Catalunya to request the creation of the Girona Nord Police Region for the 68 municipalities of the region.
The text also called for a short-term reinforcement of the ABPs of Figueres and Roses. The initiative was approved with the votes of Junts per Catalunya and PSC, while ERC, CUP, and Ciutadans abstained.
The discussion reached the Interior Commission of the Parlament in March 2023, where a motion for a resolution to create that police region, which would include at least all of l'Alt Empordà, was debated. The request seeks a structure of its own regional command and coordination within a force that is currently organized into nine police regions.
Parlon ruled out a new region in the short term despite announcing more officers
In March 2025, the Minister of the Interior, Núria Parlon, visited Figueres together with the Director General of the Police, Josep Lluís Trapero, and the head of the Girona Police Region, Sílvia Catà. There, she announced a surgical increase in personnel at the Figueres police station, although she specified that the creation of the new police region was not a short-term project.
During that visit, the mayor of Figueres, Jordi Masquef, demanded more resources to combat crime in the city. Months later, in October 2025, the Consell d'Alcaldies de l'Alt Empordà again demanded a second police region in Girona from the Interior Department to reinforce the police stations of Figueres, la Jonquera, l'Escala, and Roses, in addition to the Portbou office.
The request from the Consell d'Alcaldies added another element to the debate by linking police reinforcement with the need for more judicial resources in the judicial district of Figueres.