Officers from the Spanish National Police and the Italian State Police have started joint patrols on the streets of Alicante this June. The initiative is part of the “European Police Stations” project, an international police cooperation scheme aimed at strengthening services for tourists and improving safety for foreign citizens during peak holiday seasons.
For much of the month, two Italian police officers with several years of experience will be serving in Alicante alongside agents from the National Police. Their presence will be concentrated especially in tourist and commercial areas, where they will carry out preventive patrols both on foot and in vehicles. They will also assist Italian citizens who may need support with translation, police assistance or the processing of complaints.
The “European Police Stations” programme was launched in 2008 in collaboration with France and has since expanded to other countries. Portugal joined in 2012, Italy in 2014, Germany in 2020, and the Netherlands in 2022. This is the sixth year that Alicante has participated in the initiative.
In addition to strengthening public safety, the programme allows foreign officers to gain firsthand knowledge of how the National Police operates in various areas, such as Public Safety and Criminal Investigation. The deployed officers wear their own standard uniforms, making it easier for tourists from their home countries to identify them. The collaboration is also reciprocal, as agents of the Spanish National Police are assigned to foreign locations to perform similar functions alongside their European counterparts.
The effectiveness of the operation was evident on the very first day of work for the Italian officers in Alicante. During a preventative patrol alongside the Operational Response Group of the Alicante Central District Police Station, they participated in the arrest of a 48-year-old man who is the suspected perpetrator of a theft on a busy tourist and commercial street in the city centre.
According to the National Police, the detainee allegedly stole a smartwatch and a compact portable battery from a store. Both items were recovered after he was apprehended by officers shortly after the theft. The arrested man also had multiple prior arrests for similar offences and several outstanding warrants from courts in Alicante.
With this system, the National Police seeks to offer closer attention to foreign visitors and reinforce crime prevention in the main tourist areas of the city during the start of the summer season.
