Police officers in Sevilla have been offered up to €595 per shift and an extra day off for working weekend and public holidays over the Christmas period.
The generous offer is part of the latest proposed Christmas security plan put forward by mayor Jose Luis Sanz, which remains stalled by political deadlock.
It comes after dozens of Policia Local officers called in sick during the first bank holiday weekend of December, leaving many events woefully exposed from a security point of view.
The proposed plan would run from December 19 to January 6 and carries an estimated cost of €4.5 million. At the time of writing, it has yet to receive final approval.
Under the proposal, officers working on public holidays, weekends or key festive dates – including Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day and Epiphany (January 6) – would receive productivity bonuses scaled by rank and role, plus a compensatory rest day.
According to official documentation seen by local newspaper El Correo, payments would range from:
- €400 for an auxiliary officer working on street duty
- Up to €479 for a standard officer (€457 if working in an office role)
- Between €473 and €495 for police inspectors
- Up to €595 for the head of the force
All qualifying shifts would also generate one day of leave, regardless of role.
Double pay for key night shifts
The most lucrative shifts fall on the nights of December 25 and January 1. Officers starting work after 10pm on those dates would receive double productivity payments and two days off.
Night work on other dates – defined as shifts running between 6pm and 5.59am – would also attract an additional €87.13 ‘intensity bonus’, on top of the standard productivity payment.
As an example, a rank-and-file officer working a night shift on Christmas Eve could earn more than €560 in extras.
Productivity payments would also apply on weekdays covered by the Christmas plan, though at lower rates – ranging from €192 to €227 for street-based officers and €170 to €205 for those in office roles.
Same money, shorter plan
While the figures mirror a previous proposal rejected by unions and opposition parties in November, the revised plan covers fewer days, reducing the overall cost from €5.6 million to €4.5 million.
The change follows a return to a 2004 labour agreement, which stipulates that the Christmas policing plan must begin on the Friday before December 25 – this year, December 19 – rather than in late November.
The updated proposal also restructures staffing levels. Instead of two work groups, officers would be divided into three, with the aim of deploying 66% of the force on working days and weekends and 33% on public holidays
Although the main police union SPPME-A has backed the proposal, the plan remains in limbo. On Monday, PSOE and Vox abstained, while Con Podemos–IU voted against fast-tracking it through the council’s finance committee.
Without an absolute majority, the Christmas policing package cannot yet be implemented, leaving uncertainty over staffing levels during one of the city’s busiest periods.
The impasse follows recent disruption in Sevilla, where major events, religious processions and even a December bank holiday weekend have taken place with severely reduced Local Police presence.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
