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Formentera Council pushes back after PP calls to cut 9 officers from local force

Foto policia localThe Formentera Council has submitted comments in hopes of stalling the execution of an order—sentència número 87—issued by the Balearic high court of justice on February 28, 2017. In its ruling, the judicial authority decided to annul the appointment of nine members of Formentera's local police force even though they had passed the competitive exams called by the Council in 2014 to find permanent staff. According to president's office secretary Bartomeu Escandell, “the Spanish government has made this request despite the fact it gravely imperils our island's police force, which today stands at 13”.

The Popular Party (PP) has argued that the string of new hires in 2014 fell foul of the so-called “law on rationalisation” asking administrations to save in times of hardship. Escandell says that, today, three years after announcing the selection process and given Formentera's need for police manpower, to request execution of the high court's ruling would “be at odds with our islanders' best interests and jeopardise our security”. Escandell also pointed out: “At the same time they have asked us to cut job positions on Formentera, the national government has announced plans to fill 5,197 new positions across police and civil guard forces.”

Background
Madrid's delegation on the island appealed a CiF government commission's green-lighting, August 22, 2014, of plans to fill nine positions on Formentera's local police force. Administrative court number one of Palma dismissed that appeal on September 1, 2016, but the PP-led administration responded by filing another appeal. On February 28, the administrative chamber of the Balearic Islands superior court of justice issued sentència número 87, invalidating the Council's initial call for applicants. It is the Formentera Council's hope that the ruling not be carried out.