Still no date set for desperately needed new National Police station in Torremolinos

Confusion surrounding the long-awaited construction of the new Torremolinos-Benalmádena National Police station is no closer to a solution, according to the unified police union (SUP), even though at the beginning of 2022, Spain's Ministry of Interior had allocated an investment of 5.6 million euros for the project.

In November of last year, Torremolinos town hall approved the transfer to the government of land located next to the El Pozuelo football ground, which is where the new facility will be built. The government sub-delegation in Malaga has claimed that “the project is being processed” although there has still been no date set for the work to begin.

The general secretary of the SUP in Malaga, Mariló Valencia, pointed out that they have been demanding a new police station since 2016, motivated mainly by “the increase in crime, and the need for more police officers and therefore, more space”.

The current building, located in Calle Skal (Torremolinos), was built at the end of the 1980s and is now too small, and Valencia pointed out that the building suffers from “continuous flooding” and that the situation “is getting worse”.

Valencia said, “We find two Costa del Sol towns that have grown, and with a high number of inhabitants all year round, which also multiplies by three during the high tourist season. But it is not just that crime increases, but that the police have to create new units to face the problem. We need more physical space, both for the officers and for the technology they require.”

Valencia added that although the current circumstances are not helping the situation, “It has not affected the service we provide, but we do work on many occasions in overcrowded conditions, without computers or technological means to facilitate our daily work.”

The commissioner of the National Police of Torremolinos-Benalmádena, Antonio de Haro, said that there are 430 officers assigned to the police station. He also said there had been a six per cent increase in crime in the area this year, so the new station, and more officers, are now desperately needed.