The Canary Islands government, formed by the Canary Coalition (CC) and the People’s Party (PP), has included amendments to the Autonomous Police Law in its 2026 budget that, among other things, will allow members of the Security Council (currently Nieves Lady Barrett (CC)) to choose a replacement for the national chief “without distinction” from among the senior commanders (regular chief, chief secretary, deputy chief chief). Vacancy, Absenteeism, or Illness.
Article 23 of the Canary Islands Police Act provides that the head of the force is “appointed by the government from among its principal members in a free appointment process through open recruitment, in accordance with the principles of objectivity, merit, and competency, and may be removed at will.” In case of vacancy, absence, or illness, he must be appointed “as one of the principal commissioners, or, if this is not possible, as one of the commanders in the immediately inferior rank.” That means respecting rankings.
The CC and PP governments are now proposing amendments to that provision through the fifth and final clause of the budget. The new wording allows counselors to choose “vaguely” within that higher scale, without considering rank and without following the principles of professional hierarchy that govern access to leadership positions in other security forces and organizations.
Currently, there is only one main chief of police in the Canary Islands. This person is Luis Santos Jara, who served as the head of the autonomous body from 2012 to October 2023, and was replaced as deputy director (promotion) on that day. with your fingers (To the Interim Commissioner) Antonio Almenara.
Santos Jara was demoted after Counselor Nieves Lady Barreto opened a file of withheld information on rumors sent to David del Pino, head of security for the Canary Islands government, who is on leave from the force, regarding rumors that the Chief Secretary may have made of the executive branch regarding the management of the forest fires that broke out in Tenerife in the summer of 2023. This withheld information led to a disciplinary claim against Santos Jara. Santos Jara has finally been archived.
After his “secret dismissal,” in the words of his lawyer, the former chief of police of the Canary Islands accused the counselor of several crimes, including workplace harassment. The case is still being heard at the Fifth Investigative Court in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Leadership changes will also be legalized. Amid this conflict, the CC and PP governments want to initiate this legislative reform through regional accounts, despite the fact that the Constitutional Court’s doctrine states that the general budget cannot include substantive amendments to other laws unless they maintain “sufficient economic ties.” That is, for this self-governing community, they have an “immediate and direct” impact on expenditures and revenues.
Article 39 Promotion
After Santos Jara’s dismissal, the Councilor decided to appoint Deputy Commissioner Antonio Almenara as Chief of Police of the Canary Islands. To do this, he first promoted him to Director General through Article 39, which provides for the possibility of temporary assignment of personnel to higher employment positions. But he did so without publicly recruiting qualified candidates or evaluating their merits, even though internal legal reports warned that there were procedures to follow for these promotions. The Canary Islands government’s Security Council skipped three places to appoint its current president.
The budget proposals submitted by the CC and PP governments, in the same final article no. 5, provide for amendments to the aforementioned article 39 of the Canary Police Law, which regulates temporary promotion to higher category positions. In this case, a new section will be included. “In case of emergency or unforeseen circumstances, for the higher employment positions corresponding to subgroups A1 and A2 (upper scale), if there are no civil servants with the necessary qualifications in such subgroups, in exceptional cases, for the strictly necessary period and within the limits established in paragraph 1 of this article, an unqualified civil servant may be selected for the immediately subordinate employment.” That is, for the immediately subordinate position, the term of office shall not exceed two years. By taking a higher-level employment job, you are entitled to the benefits of that job.
Therefore, the planned reforms will enable promotion. with your fingers For employees who are appointed without the necessary qualifications for the position, with your fingersto the head of the body without respecting rank.
Three unions demand abolition
InterCanary Islands, CSIF and Sepka have written to the Directorate General for Public Functions, requesting that the fifth and final clause of the budget be annulled because it was not negotiated at the civil service table on 21 October.
The groups stress that the proposed amendments to the Canary Islands Police Act were not included in the draft tabled and were subsequently incorporated “without a compulsory collective bargaining process”, which they say is “in violation of the principles of transparency, integrity and effective participation of public servants”.
If this fifth and final clause is not repealed, the union will request that a bargaining table be convened in an unusual manner to “present and discuss the articles introduced”.
Regarding the nature of the problem, union officials believe that the planned reforms “clearly go beyond what is permitted by the budget law” and “significantly” amend the regulations governing the Canary Islands Police Force, “impacting the rights and professional conditions of civil servants without prior budget-related negotiations or economic justification.”
In the opinion of these union organizations, this change in the selection of the organization’s leadership violates the “principles of equality, merit, competence and professional hierarchy” and introduces “arbitrary and unwarranted exceptions to the standards of reference” in the rules governing the election procedures of organizations such as the national police and private security forces.
According to workers’ representatives, the amendment, which allows workers to hold higher category jobs without corresponding qualifications, violates both the Civil Service Basic Law and the Canary Islands Civil Service Act of February 1987, which “require appropriate professional qualifications even in exceptional cases”.
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