Sevilla’s mayor is fuming after a wave of Policia Local officers went on sick leave over the weekend.
Jose Luis Sanz today warned that the city will take legal and disciplinary action against any proven ‘fakers’, after the Andalucian capital was left without the bulk of its municipal force during several major events.
Speaking during a visit to the restoration works at the Santa Ines Convent, Sanz said the council is now reviewing every absence to determine whether sick notes were properly justified.
‘Those who can justify their sick leave will have no problem,’ he said. ‘Those who cannot will face disciplinary proceedings.’
A ‘covert strike’ amid a bitter row over the Christmas plan
The majority of officers failed to report for duty over the weekend in what the mayor described as a ‘covert strike’ linked to an ongoing dispute between police unions and the council.
The row centres on the city’s Christmas policing plan, which the administration eventually imposed using the municipal emergency protocol after negotiations collapsed.
The absences caused visible disruption at two high-profile events: Saturday’s Christmas lights switch-on and Sunday’s Sevilla–Betis derby, where traffic control points had no Local Police presence.
Sanz, however, insisted that the city remained safe thanks to ‘the good sense of Sevillanos,’ a sizeable Policia Nacional deployment and strong support from Proteccion Civil.
Sanz accused police unions of failing to explain to their members the implications of rejecting the proposed Christmas plan.
According to the mayor, union demands exceeded legal limits on annual productivity payments, while the council’s proposal merely reduced the figure slightly.
‘Incomprehensibly, the unions have pushed the Local Police back to a plan from 2004,’ he said. ‘They must explain to their members why we are in this situation.’
He added that reviving the rejected plan would now be ‘difficult’, as it was voted down in a plenary session after unions persuaded opposition parties to block it.
Despite the escalating conflict, Sanz called on Policia Local officers to act with the ‘responsibility and vocation of service’ that, he said, has always characterised the force.
He warned that the city cannot afford a repeat of last weekend’s problems as the busy Christmas season approaches.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
