Marlaska defends international cooperation to reduce dinghies in the Islands: "It is a challenge"

PalmThe Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, predicted this Wednesday in Palma that irregular immigration flows in the Islands will be reduced due to cooperation policies with countries of origin. This has been the trend across the State, where irregular arrivals have decreased by more than 40%, he assured. Although, for now, this decrease "has not reached the Balearic Islands" but quite the opposite, because in recent years there has been an increase in the arrival of boats, the minister predicted that the "trend" will also be "reversed" due to these policies. Nevertheless, he warned that this objective is also "a challenge".

In the same vein, the minister rejected discourses that link immigration with crime. "No, crime is linked to other factors, in many cases to the vulnerability of many people," he insisted. Marlaska expressed himself in these terms at the inauguration ceremony of José Antonio Puebla Martín as the new head of the Balearic Islands Police. Puebla Martín replaces José Luis Santafé Arnedo, who became the new Operational Deputy Director (DAO) of the National Police, after the resignation of José Ángel González Jiménez on February 17th, when the lawsuit filed by a subordinate accusing him of sexual assault became known.

Puebla commits to tourism

Puebla has committed to being "especially sensitive" to the problems affecting the tourism sector, one of the main "drivers" of the Islands. In his speech, he defended the objective of improving police effectiveness "by putting the citizen at the center, both residents and visitors". He also mentioned as priorities of his term the fight against terrorism, irregular immigration, human trafficking, and "online crime.

The swearing-in ceremony was attended by State Secretaries Aina Calvo and Rosario Sánchez; the Director General of the Police, Francisco Pardo, Santafé himself, the delegate of the Spanish government in the Islands, Alfonso Rodríguez, the second Vice-President of the Government, Antònia Maria Estarellas, and the mayors of Palma and Inca, Jaime Martínez and Virgilio Moreno.