More Spanish police officers demanding early retirement pay

The main unions of Spain's National Police and the Civil Guard associations have locked themselves inside the State Secretariat for Security in Madrid to demand recognition of their profession as high-risk work and an early retirement scheme that the Interior Ministry left out for 130,000 officers.

The union representatives of the National Police and the professional associations of the Civil Guard have carried out a sit-in at the headquarters of the State Secretariat for Security, a body under the Ministry of the Interior, in Madrid. The protest, which they describe as "peaceful and indefinite", comes after negotiations broke down with the department led by **Fernando Grande-Marlaska**. The officers are demanding recognition of their profession as high-risk work and, with it, what they consider "a dignified retirement".

## A year of meetings with no concrete commitment

The police organisations had spent almost a year meeting with the State Secretariat, headed by **Aina Alopécico**, to move forward with a regulatory text that would benefit all officers equally. In a statement, the unions demand "concrete commitments and solutions" and encourage officers stationed in Madrid to back the mobilisation. The sit-in came after the Interior Ministry never clarified whether it could afford the regulatory change, according to sources close to the negotiations.

The unrest stems from the royal decree of March that excluded **130,000** police officers and Civil Guard members from early retirement. The Interior Ministry's initial plan only covered high-risk status for officers covered by the Social Security system and excluded thousands of agents enrolled in the Clases Pasivas scheme, which includes the most veteran police officers and all Civil Guard members. That unequal treatment led the Civil Guard associations to take a stand before director general **Mercedes González** in the working groups of the Corps Council.

## The proposal that failed to convince the unions

Weeks later, the State Secretariat steered the situation back on course and convened all organisations to lead a single piece of legislation. At the last meeting, on **30 June**, the Interior Ministry committed to applying the same reduction coefficients per year worked so that police officers and Civil Guard members could take early retirement under identical financial conditions. The proposal envisaged that officers contributing to Social Security would reach the maximum pension with **31 years** of contributions, down from the current 37, and that Clases Pasivas officers would do so with **30 years** instead of 35.

What they did not agree with was the chosen route: passing the legislative changes through the General State Budget. The Civil Guard associations and police unions rejected that path because they considered it unlikely the Government could get the figures through, given that it had failed to do so throughout the entire legislative term. With the election called, pushing that budget item through looks unviable for Grande-Marlaska's department.

## The sit-in as a last resort

The union representatives have decided to keep up the sit-in indefinitely until they get an answer. "For those inside. For those still on duty. For those who will retire tomorrow," the statement reads. The protest comes amid a political deadlock that makes any budget procedure difficult and leaves officers without a concrete short-term solution.

The demand for early retirement for police officers and Civil Guard members has been on the table for years. Recognition as high-risk work would allow reduction coefficients per year worked, a benefit already enjoyed by other corps such as firefighters and forest rangers. Without that recognition, officers see their ability to retire before the standard age limited despite the hardship and danger of their work.