He Home office gave the green light to the purchase of two new instruments for the musical unit of the Civil Guard. It’s a flute and one bassoon which together represent a cost of 50,030 euros. An amount that has been criticized as exorbitant by the Civil Guard associations, who point out that with this money, a hundred bulletproof vests like those who claim with extreme urgency.
With thousands of agents of the Civil Guard who still do not have bulletproof vests, as they have been denouncing for years, the Interior has given priority to the purchase of these two new instruments and has sparked new internal complaints.
Inside gave the green light to the acquisition of a flute Muramatsu And bassoon Moosmann, two highly sought-after pieces on the market. The first costs 14,900 euros excluding VAT, while the bassoon reaches 28,100 euros. The sum is 50,030 euros.
With this sum, Civil Guard sources explain, the purchase of almost a hundred bulletproof vests could be undertaken for the units most exposed to risks due to their work on the street, such as those specialized in Citizen safetya (USECIC) or those who have to deal with drug trafficking in the Gibraltar field.
In one of the latest purchases of bulletproof vests for the Civil Guard, the Interior acquired 3.543 vests by 1.5 million euroswith a unit cost of approximately 420 euros.
This is not the only purchase made for this unit. Already in the first quarter of 2023, contracts were formalized for the purchase of several instruments for a total of 256,556.3 euros for this musical unit,
More than 300,000 euros
The Unified Association of Civil Guards (AUGC) has criticised the fact that the Civil Guard is spending more than 300,000 euros on the purchase of instruments for its musical unit, while it lacks protective and safety equipment, such as bulletproof vests and electric guns.
The association denounces that the Civil Guard suffers from a lack of equipment, that the facilities are “collapsing” and that they suffer “unbearable temperatures” due to the lack of budget for air conditioning. This contrasts with the acquisition of “high-end” professional instruments for the musical unit, something they observe with “surprise”.
The association regrets that “we do not have bulletproof vests for everyone” and that electric guns, “so necessary”, are rare and are not available to personnel who arrive first at incidents, which does not allow us to “guarantee the safety” of the population “due to the lack of economic resources”.
The Unified Association of the Civil Guard accused the Government and the General Directorate of the Civil Guard of “making fun of citizens” and their safety, ironically on the inclusion of the cost of musical instruments in the 2024 budgets of the program 132A Citizen safety. “What is the relationship between a musical unit for parades and events and public safety? Does it protect the increasingly depopulated cities of Burgos, Teruel, etc.?” they ask.
