Calafell and Cunit are closer to having a joint Mossos d'Esquadra police station, a demand that both municipalities have been pushing for some time to reinforce security and relieve the burden on the El Vendrell police station. The Generalitat views the project favorably and the official announcement could arrive by the end of the month.
The expectation is that the Minister of Interior, Nuria Parlon, will make public the commitment during a visit to Calafell. According to the proposal conveyed so far, it would be a neighborhood police station with its own staff.
The option with more strength is situated in Segur de Calafell
The location is not yet closed, although the alternative that concentrates more possibilities is located in the vicinity of Plaza Mediterrani in Segur de Calafell, next to the C 31 crossing. That location would allow coverage for Calafell and Cunit in an area especially sensitive due to population volume and mobility.
On the table it has also been raised that the new base can serve the maritime neighborhoods of Sant Salvador and Coma ruga, in El Vendrell. However, the town councils of Calafell and Cunit reject that this coverage be done ordinarily, except in necessary situations.
The two councils maintain that, due to population volume, it would not be effective to burden the future police station with that added service. Their position is that those neighborhoods can continue to be served from the police station of the regional capital, provided that the reinforcement planned in El Vendrell materializes.
The reinforcement of El Vendrell, key in the debate
That argument is supported by the increase in personnel announced for the coming months. At the Security Board of El Vendrell, the general director of the Police, Josep Lluis Trapero, announced a new promotion of 1,300 agents, which should serve to reinforce municipalities with strong population growth and with large or dispersed nuclei, as is the case in Baix Penedès.
Trapero also placed the future police station of Calafell and Cunit within the department's agenda, although he left the announcement in the hands of the Interior.
"They are commitments that the Minister of Interior Nuria Parlon must announce, but that are on the department's agenda" - Josep Lluis Trapero, director general of the Police
Calafell and Cunit insist that this reinforcement should not be limited to summer, but extended from September with the incorporation of the new promotion graduated from the police academy. They understand that, if the El Vendrell police station gains personnel stably, it will be able to continue covering the maritime neighborhoods of the municipality without habitually transferring that burden to the new joint base.
More population in summer and pressure on the police apparatus
The Mossos d'Esquadra police station in El Vendrell currently has 160 agents, apart from occasional reinforcements. At the same Security Board, mayor Kenneth Martínez recalled the pressure the municipality endures during high season.
"El Vendrell has the Local Police, but the more mossos there are, the better" - Kenneth Martínez, mayor of El Vendrell
Martínez explained that the municipality has a population of 41,000 inhabitants and that in summer it exceeds 100,000. He also made it clear that the main concern is not so much the location of the personnel as the need to expand the presence of Mossos throughout the region.
That is one of the core points in the open discussion. The design of the future police station for the Calafell Cunit area seeks to reinforce the coastal strip without leaving the interior of Baix Penedès unattended, especially in the summer months, when a good part of the deployment concentrates on the beaches.