Walter Finch
THE Mayor of Marbella has come under attack from Madrid’s man in Malaga over her demands that the police share more information about recent mafia activity.
Javier Salas, the government’s subdelegate for Malaga, accused Angeles Muñoz of ‘disrespecting the men and women of the Policia Nacional who risk their lives every day to protect the people of Marbella.’
Marbella’s long-standing mayor had provoked his wrath by requesting that the Policia Nacional make the security of the town a ‘priority’.
On Monday she demanded that the Policia Nacional share more information about the recent wave of shootings to plague the municipality with the Policia Local.
“Policia Nacional investigations are secret and directed by the judicial authority,” Salas thundered. “A mayor of a city like Marbella should know this.
“Marbella is already a priority for the Policia Nacional. The Government of Spain supports the National Police unreservedly,” Salas added.
“We have responded with more resources and more officers, and at the same time the mayor confronts the Government of Spain by attacking the public servants of the Policia Nacional.”
Salas then referenced the mayor’s family members – presumably her late husband Lars Broberg and her stepson Joaquim Broberg – and their indictments for drug trafficking-related offences.
“Muñoz may consider it normal that her relatives, who were involved in a money laundering and drug trafficking plot, found out that they were being investigated – this was stated in the summary of the case of the National Court against the Swedish mafia.
“But even Ángeles Muñoz must submit to the rule of law and judicial protection of police actions.”
Muñoz had announced that she will request that the national police body work more closely with the local police authority to tackle the uptick in shootings and mafia activity in Marbella.
She promised to raise it in an upcoming ‘local security meeting’ between Marbella and the central government.
“I expect that on the part of the subdelegation itself, and in this case on the part of the National Police, Marbella has to be a priority,” she said.
“I hope that issues which are transcendental not only for the short term, but also the medium and long-term will be addressed in that meeting.
“There is no doubt that information on the topic which the City Council doesn’t have must be stopped, and I hope that with the participation of the police itself we can resolve it as soon as possible.”
The recent waves of shootings have cast a dark shadow over Marbella’s glitzy, tourist-friendly image.
The most recent shooting involved a 33-year-old Albanian, who was hit multiple times in Guadalmina’s shopping centre at 21:40 pm on Saturday, April 13.
Guadalmina shopping centre has become the centre of gang fights on the Costa del Sol.
On the 28 of October last year, three hooded men opened fire on two people in the shopping precinct.
After injuring the men, the shooters fled the scene by car.
Similar to this weekend’s incident, last year’s shooting took place in the middle of the day, at 12:15 pm.
Various witnesses reported the incident to emergency services and both Policia Local and Nacional attended the scene.
