The Ministry of the Interior has decided to reinforce police devices, provided for in the current Level 4 anti-terrorist alert, during the celebration of the Christmas holidays, a period characterized by numerous events and events of a massive nature, as well as an increase in travel.
The decision was adopted this Monday after an extraordinary meeting of the Terrorist Threat Assessment Table chaired by the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska. The operational reinforcement will be maintained throughout the national territory between midnight on December 18 and midnight on January 10, 2024.
“I want to convey peace of mind to society, because we have truly professional security forces and bodies that are aware of the terrorist phenomenon,” Marlaska said before the meeting.
The instruction issued this Monday by the Secretary of State for Security, Rafael Pérez, orders “a strengthening of security devices and intelligence, control and anti-terrorist monitoring capabilities by the State Security Corps, as well as by the rest of the police forces”.
Also by “other institutions, organizations and operators, public or private in matters of security, within the framework of their respective powers and functional and territorial responsibilities.”
The police reinforcement “of special intensity” during this Christmas season will ensure the surveillance and protection of places, spaces and means of transport, as well as religious, leisure or recreational events in general, in which high concentrations of people occur on these dates. people, as well as the strategic objectives and infrastructures essential for the normal functioning of citizen activity.
The measures agreed upon this Monday are added to the complementary instructions issued by the Secretary of State for Security on October 17, 2023, which reinforced the protection of the embassies and diplomatic legations of certain countries in relation to the Middle East conflict, as they are potential terrorist targets, as well as their national interests in Spain, its places of worship and religious celebrations.