The former mayor and spokesman for the opposition in the Badalona City Council, Xavier García Albiol, denounced in a statement that only one patrol car from the Guàrdia Urbana was on duty on New Year's Eve in the city. The municipal government denies such an extreme and instead the PSU union confirms it.
Municipal sources affirm that "it is not true that there was only one patrol" on New Year's Eve and they regret that Albiol is "the loudspeaker of certain media opposed to the government's management." Security in Barcelona has been guaranteed "the same as every year" and in fact, they affirm that "it has been the quietest night in recent years" thanks, among other things, to the coordination between Guàrdia Urbana and Mossos d'Esquadra.
Xavier García Albiol has denounced that a single car from the Badalona Urban Guard ensured the safety of the entire city during New Year's Eve "despite being one of the nights with the most movement and accumulation of people." For this reason, he considers that "the negligence of this municipal government in terms of security is so serious that it even reaches the point of leaving the city almost unprotected" on one of the nights when there should be more police presence.
Along these lines, sources from the PSU union of the GUB confirm the popular councilor's version. They add that this precarious situation occurred not only during the early hours of New Year's Eve, with a single patrol, but also the following day "with two patrols in the morning and two in the afternoon." In addition, they deny that the joint patrol operation 'Grèvol' with MMEE was carried out, as the local Executive had announced.
The PP candidate for the upcoming elections describes the situation of the Urban Guard as "limited" and accuses "the government's inability to provide a solution," which has forced, among other cases, the closure of the citizen service office on several occasions or "leaving the city without street patrols on numerous occasions."
Faced with this situation, García Albiol warns that "every day we receive many complaints from neighbors who have been robbed or have needed the presence of the Urban Police and when they call the police station they do not give them any response" for which Badalona, in his opinion it is "a city with impunity for criminals".
