Increased checks sees fewer incidents at Tarragona's festa major, police say
Mossos d'Esquadra launch new command center to coordinate agents from outside police station
Catalan police deployed additional agents across Tarragona for the southern Catalan city's 'festa major,' the largest public street party to celebrate the local patron saint.
The priority of the police operation was to find and confiscate bladed weapons.
Police official Jordi Colomé explained to the media during the Santa Tecla celebrations that more than fifty teams were deployed every night, with identification and random search points enabled.
"The extensive police operation has a deterrent effect, and we can corroborate this," the police sub-inspector said, citing provisional police data from Sunday night.
This year, the Mossos also have an advanced command center that allows the entire operation to be coordinated from outside the police station.
Next to this command center, the police have established an area where agents carry out searches.
During patrols, the police carry out searches if they detect suspicious activity, but random searches are also done on groups or individuals in addition.
Metal detectors were used to find any bladed weapons, while the canine unit also helped detect narcotic substances.
In the second weekend of the Tarragona festival, incidents were minimal, and no bladed weapons were found by police.
On Saturday night, approximately seventy searches were carried out.