Catalan police force to grow 20% with over 3,700 new officers

Catalonia’s police force, the Mossos d’Esquadra, will be able to grow by 20% over the next few years. 

In total, 3,739 new positions for officers to be hired has been approved. By the end of the hiring process, the police force will grow from 18,267 to a maximum of 22,006. 

The decision was announced after a meeting between the Catalan government, Catalan police, and Spain’s interior ministry on Friday. 

The new officers can start to be contracted immediately, not all will be. Instead, the Mossos will incorporate 800 new officers per year. 

The previous limit of 18,267 officer was set in 2006.

Spain's interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska had already recognized the necessity to increase the number of officers as requested by the Catalan government.

"Working in security is investing," he said on Friday morning in an interview with Catalunya Ràdio.

The meeting was attended by Catalan president Pere Aragonès, Catalan interior minister Joan Ignasi Elena, secretary general of the interior ministry, Oriol Amorós, the head of the Mossos d'Esquadra, Josep Lluís Trapero, the director general of the Catalan police, Pere Ferrer, and the legal head of the interior ministry, Francesc Claverol.

Also present were Spain's interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, the delegate of the Spanish government in Catalonia, Teresa Cunillera, the secretary of state for security, Rafael Pérez, the director of coordination of studies of security, José Antonio Rodríguez, the head of the Guardia Civil in Catalonia, José Luis Tovar, and the head of the Spanish National Police, Luis Fernando Pascual.