The bodyguards of the mayor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, José Manuel Bermúdez (Canary Islands Coalition), and the defending councilor Evelyn Alonso have cost the capital 370,692.65 euros between January and November of this year. The government group of the capital of Tenerife, made up of CC, PP and Alonso, assigned these two politicians six “trusted” agents who are part of the Group for the Protection of Authorities and who charge supplements as financial compensation.
The secretary of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council is also under investigation in the Emmasa case
Know more
Canary Now has had access to an answer offered by the Delegate Councilor for Human Resources, Purificación Dávila Carreira, to a question posed by the PSOE councilor Florentino Guzmán. This document details that between January 1 and October 31, direct costs (salary and security) for the protection of the mayor and the councilor amounted to 370,692.65 euros.
The group of bodyguards depends on the Headquarters of the Local Police Corps and is made up of officials “trusted by the authority” who assume these functions “on a voluntary basis.” For this reason, no new jobs were created, rather agents receive a supplement, according to what was published in the Official Gazette of the Province (BOP) of Santa Cruz de Tenerife on June 18.
Sources from the Capital City Council then explained to this newspaper that, as agents work in shifts, the specific hours required by this function are paid “like the rest of agents who perform extraordinary or specific services that require a supplement to their salary.” One of the functions of this group is to escort Alonso and Bermúdez in the events marked on their agendas and to accompany them outside the municipality or the autonomous community.
The CSIF union criticized the choice of “certain agents” over the rest to exercise this function, without any selective procedure involved. According to the union, the fact that the bodyguards are “trusted by the authorities” is detrimental to the rest of the officers. Municipal government sources responded that to provide this service, “the entire workforce is given the opportunity,” although to be selected they must “have knowledge of citizen security and even specific courses on issues related to the protection of authorities. ”
City Council sources have defended that Evelyn Alonso – whose vote allowed the vote of censure against Patricia Hernández to triumph (PSOE) and for Bermúdez to regain power – she needs bodyguards because she has received threats “of a personal nature against herself and her family for a month,” according to a study carried out by the Local Police.
The opposition, formed by the PSOE, United We Can and Citizens, has offered a press conference this Thursday to denounce the attempts of the mayor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife to frustrate the celebration of an extraordinary plenary session in which the cost of the escorts from Bermúdez and Alonso as the investigation of the municipal clerk in the Emmasa case.
The Socialist spokesman, José Angel Martín, explained that the opposition requested on November 4 that an extraordinary plenary session be held on November 25 on this matter. As it has not occurred, the secretary of the corporation is obliged to notify all councilors that this plenary session will take place on December 13.
