Last Monday, the Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, offered the shipment of Civil Guard for the European Mission in the Rafah border crossing, which connects Palestine with Egypt. Specifically, these are ten agents of the rapid action groups (GAR), an elite unit tanned in the fight against ETA terrorism and drug trafficking and that has already been deployed in Other international military missions such as Afghanistan, Iraq or Sahel.
However, it is not their experience or professionalism in this type of interventions that has generated controversy but the fact that the government has no repair to send these civil guards to conflict areas, while He refuses to recognize them as risk professionals. Because you have to remember that The PSOE has blocked up to 18 times the proposal of law which would allow early retirement for national police and civil guards, as well as their recognition as a risk profession. Week by week, the Pedro Sánchez Executive has been requesting to extend the period of amendments to this standard to block and delay its approval.
Hence the outrage of the agents, upon learning that the government was going to send ten members of the GAR to an area at war, without being recognized as a risk profession. But this strong rejection is better understood when browsing the last report that the Sánchez executive sent to the Senate on this issue. In it, it makes clear that “The concept of risk profession does not exist as such nor in the regulation of the social security regime or in the passive class regime. It has its origin in Royal Legislative Decree 8/2015, of October 30, which approves the consolidated text of the General Social Security Law, which provides The possibility of lowering the minimum retirement age by royal decree and by reducing coefficients for those professional groups or activities whose works are of exceptionally painful, toxic, dangerous or unhealthy nature and accuse high rates of morbidity or mortality. “
Grievance with Mossos, Ertzainas and local police
At this point we must highlight the concept of “works that are of an exceptionally dangerous nature”, since it is difficult to explain that participating in a mission in Gaza, in full conflict, is not. To the Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, “every time sE complicates you more to justify this double measure of measuring“, According to the different police unions and associations of the Civil Guard. And it is that the list of groups that belong to that list of risk professions, further affects the wound. Namely: workers included in the mining statute, personnel of the personnel of Aerial works flight, railway workers, artists –cantantes, dancers and trapezistas–, bullfighting professionals, firefighters at the service of public administrations and organizations, Local police, members of Ertzaintza, the Mossos and the Foral Police of Navarra.
List in which the military are not included, despite participating in multiple missions abroad. From the Spanish Troop and Marinery Association (ATME) they have claimed the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, to initiate the procedures for the Armed Forces to also be recognized as a risk profession, since they “play life daily.”
For years, this comparative grievance with other state policemen has been repeatedly denounced, given the neglect of the Government and its Interior Minister, who even hid that he had appealed the judgment of the National Court that forced him to comply with the Salary Equiparration Agreement and renegotiate with professional unions and associations. Specifically, the third and eighth clauses of that agreement, which referred to the budget provision to encourage the creation of jobs for staff in second activity and reservation, as well as processing a law of remuneration equality that ensures end of the salary inequalities Between police bodies.
Government rejection for economic reasons
This situation generates “frustration” and “outrage” among agentsthat is aggravated with decisions such as the one taken by the government now. But perhaps that refusal of the Executive comes more motivated by the economic factor, since its recognition as a risk profession would directly influence its retirement, specifically, in advance. In what sense? Professionals grouped in the so -called risk professions have the option of Request “early retirement” charging 100% of the benefit, as in the case of the Mossos d’Esquadra that are in this list.
It must be remembered that Ertzaintza has the early retirement since 2008, local police since 2019 and, more recently, the Mossos D`esquadra and the Navarra Regional Police who got it in 2022. Thus, all Police groups would already see this right, except National Police and Civil Guard.
To get an idea, since March 2018, the year in which the so -called salary comploration agreement, a retired national police or a civil guard was signed They would have lost up to 70,000 euros Regarding a Mosso d’Esquadra.