Policing in Torrox has been at a low level for the past couple of weeks with up to 50% of the twenty-eight strong Local Police force absent on ‘sick leave’ at any one time.
The opposition parties are blaming the mayoress, Antonia Claros (UTI), and the rest of her government team for not resolving what appears to be an underlying local dispute and for bringing insecurity to the streets of the municipality.
There appears, as yet, to have been no discussions between the Council and the Unions to resolve the issue. Meanwhile, the Council has been using members of the Civil Defence (Protección Civil) to patrol the streets, a measure which has also drawn severe criticism.
The opposition groups are keen to find out whether the current absenteeism is, in fact, a covert strike by Local Police officers and, if proven to be the case, they want to see a full investigation and the taking of appropriate action.