The capital’s City Council hosted this noon the meeting of the Local Security Board that coordinates the largest deployment in this matter that the municipality faces every year before the arrival of the Santa Cruz Carnival. It is a complex device that is responsible for meeting the needs of security, traffic and emergencies scheduled from this Thursday the 26th, at the Fairgrounds, and on Friday, February 17, with the beginning of the Carnival in the street.
With the data provided by the different institutions, this year the operation will have some 1,5000 people who will carry out their work so that the festivities continue to be known for their massive and safe nature.
The mayor of the city, Jose Manuel Bermudezand the sub-delegate of the Government in the province of Tenerife, Jesús Javier Plata, co-chaired this meeting, in which the commanders of different police forces integrated into the device also participated, such as the National Police, Civil Guard, Canary Islands Police and Local Police.
In addition, the municipal representation was completed with the presence of the Councilor for Citizen Security, Evelyn Alonso; the Councilor for Public Services, Carlos Tarife; and the Councilor for Fiestas, Alfonso Cabello, as well as technical personnel from Civil Protection, Firefighters, Public Services and Fiestas. In the previous phase, representatives of the TITSA company also attended.
At the end of the meeting, the mayor of the capital announced that “adding up all the days of the Carnival of Santa Cruz, we are going to mobilize about 1,500 people who will ensure the safety of our Carnival and who will be perfectly coordinated to guarantee the least number of incidents possible.” ”, and added “since we work in anticipation of an edition of the Carnival that is going to be massive”.
In this transport section, possible reinforcements of the bus service were also analyzed, both in terms of frequencies and availability, “since in recent years we have detected that many more people come from other municipalities to the Carnival of Santa Cruz using the long-distance lines “, the mayor pointed out.
For his part, the Government sub-delegate, Jesús Javier Plata, wanted to highlight “once again we have adopted all protection measures to guarantee the safety of all citizens during these holidays, the effort made by both the Security Forces and Bodies of the The State, like the rest of the institutions involved in this device, pursues that objective, in addition to avoiding the commission of any type of crime.
Plata concluded by asking citizens, “despite being partying, to behave as civic and respectful as possible to help us maintain the usual level of security in our carnivals.”
Regarding the specific numbers of the police device, he pointed out that there will be a total of 600 National Police officers who will be dedicated to security work in the streets during the Carnival of Santa Cruz. All police units will participate in this operation, from the Police Intervention Unit (UIP), which will be reinforced with a group from Madrid, in addition to the Prevention and Reaction Unit (UPR), the Immigration Brigade and the Mobile Transport Brigade . As in previous editions, there will be the support of National Police helicopters during the Daytime Carnival celebrations.
For its part, the Civil Guard will continue to carry out breathalyzer controls at the entrances and exits of Santa Cruz, and will also reinforce surveillance in the port area.
Regarding the municipal services involved in guaranteeing the correct development of the Carnival of Santa Cruz, the effort of the staff of the capital’s Local Police stands out, which, throughout the days and festive nights, will deploy practically all of its personnel in the streets and carnival events.
Although their main functions will be aimed at controlling and regulating traffic, as well as compliance with schedules and prohibitions on access to the so-called Carnival Quadrilateral, the agents will also ensure compliance with municipal regulations and administrative resolutions that allow a Carnival of Holy Cross for sure.
The Councilor for Security, Evelyn Alonso, announced that “since January 20, compliance with the considerations raised in the general order of the carnival device has already begun. In the entire series of events that are now beginning, whose main stage will be the Tenerife Fairgrounds, specific police reinforcements have been arranged.
“For example, the different phases and finals of the murga contests, both for children and adults, mean that the Local Police allocate a total reinforcement of almost 120 agents on those days; In the galas for the election of queens for children, the elderly and adults, there are 66 managers and reinforcement agents, ”added the councilor.
The meeting also reported the withdrawal of the scooters, from the two companies that operate in the city, from February 17 to 26 for security reasons.
The device of the Santa Cruz Police is amplified when the Carnival of Santa Cruz takes to the streets, in fact, up to 94 members of this body are expected to work in the Annunciation Parade; As for the nights and days of the Carnival of Santa Cruz in the different dances and events will add, each day, between 75 and 85 reinforcement agents; other milestones such as the development of the Arena Apotheosis requires the presence of an additional staff of about 80 agents; and for the traditional Burial of the Sardine there will be between 40 and 50 troops available.
As in the editions prior to the pandemic, the different bodies and security forces will distribute the different spaces of the Carnival on the street, highlighting the location of the booths and fixed points of control and attention to incidents in the areas where the most public is concentrated. habitually. As always, the coordination center of all this operation will be set at the so-called Carnival Hospital, which will begin to operate when the party starts in the streets.
Once again, the pertinent authorization for the use of video surveillance cameras in the so-called Carnival Quadrilateral, a fundamental tool for prevention and citizen security, has been processed and arranged. There will also be a specific provision for attention to minors during the holidays; a reinforcement of the personnel in the police communications room. This year it is also planned to install care and prevention of possible cases of harassment or violence against women during the festivities at the Hospital del Carnaval del Punto Violeta.
The Citizen Security and Emergencies service of the Santacrucero consistory has been working for weeks to coordinate municipal resources in this matter, addressing issues related to the planning of the preventive device, both security and health, and in the event of possible incidents; as organizing, training and preparing the staff of the Civil Protection volunteer group that performs essential work in these celebrations.
Hospital in the Carnival of Santa Cruz
In logistical terms, the entire communications node and facilities of the aforementioned Carnival Hospital have already been designed, where the Spanish Red Cross will be in charge of health care and there will be the presence of all the security forces and bodies that will work on the big days of the Santa Cruz Carnival. .
