The Department of the Interior plans to build the second Mossos d’Esquadra police station in the city in the Aubarés area, in Copa d’Or, on land proposed by the Paeria (the name of the City Council in the city) and that It will house the headquarters of the Ponent Police Region.

Interior sees its location well and will formally request the Paeria to transfer the land to be able to build the equipment. The Minister of the Interior, Joan Ignasi Elena, has indicated that it is still too early to set deadlines, while the mayor Fèlix Larrosa has said that they will process it “immediately” as soon as they receive the request.

Elena has attended the city’s Local Security Board, where she highlighted that criminal acts in Lleida fell by 9.4% in 2023 and are below the Catalan average.

Elena announced a year ago the Government’s intention to provide the city with a new Mossos d’Esquadra police station. At that time, he proposed locating it within the urban fabric of the city, but the new municipal government headed by Fèlix Larrosa rejected it and proposed a land in the Aubarés area, which is the one that has now received the approval of ‘Interior.

“We have analyzed this land to see if it was suitable for building the police station and we have seen that it is, and we will formally request the City Council to carry out the procedures for transferring use to be able to build the police station,” explained the owner of ‘Interior, this Friday.

The new police station will allow the Lleida Basic Police Area and the Ponent Police Region to be “unfolded”. In this way, the current police station on Sant Hilari Street will remain exclusively as the Segrià Basic Area and the new one will be the headquarters of the Ponent Police Region, which includes the Terres de Lleida regions.

For his part, Larrosa said that with the new equipment the city will have a Mossos d’Esquadra police station on the right and left banks. “It is evident that we are making progress in the implementation of key security equipment,” he added.

This Friday the Local Security Board was held in the Paeria de Lleida, which brought together institutional representatives and representatives of the police and security forces.

After the meeting, the Minister of the Interior highlighted the 9.4% drop in criminal acts committed in the city in 2023 compared to the previous year. “They are very good figures,” he said, and highlighted that in a context in which the average crime rate in the country as a whole increased, “they are even more valuable.”

Specifically, in Lleida there are around 72 crimes per thousand inhabitants, while the Catalan average is 78. Elena has highlighted the drop in the number of thefts by 14% and has asked that these “objectively very good figures” be seen as a “stimulus” to continue improving.

The Minister of the Interior has also highlighted that while crimes have fallen, the number of arrests has increased by close to 1%, an increase that is linked to the good work of the different police forces and the increase in the number of agents in recent years. .

The mayor of Lleida has described that the crimes that have decreased the most, in general terms, are crimes against property, public order and public health, while crimes against road safety and the rest have increased.

Larrosa has celebrated the improvement in crime figures and the “improvement in police efficiency” due to the increase in arrests, but has explained that it is necessary to continue working in a security key so that the “perception of the citizens” also goes in this direction. sense. “Leridans are living in a safe city and I want them to feel that they live in a safe city,” she said.