Tenerife TOURIST POLICE NEEDED

Posted on 01/10/2016 | About Tenerife, Spain

A leading police union in the Canary Islands has sent a letter to the most senior police officer in Tenerife; the largest of Spain’s Canary Islands. The content of the letter is a demand for an office in the station to offer assistance to tourists.

Local daily El Dia reported that the union feels they are ill equipped to help tourists with different languages and with counselling for serious crimes. They want tourists to be able to contact consulates free of charge from the station. Spain has SATE (Foreign Tourist Attention Service) offices in many popular tourist locations including; Madrid, Malaga, Marbella, Estepona, Benalmadena, Seville, Benidorm, Palma de Majorca. Although nearly 13 million tourists arrive in the Canaries annually the union fears that they do not have the resources to help tourists as they should. Eighty percent of crimes reported to the Playa de Las Américas station, including muggings and assaults, are made by foreign visitors.