Single command is a good idea

RAMON Socias, the Spanish Government's Representative in the Balearics, said yesterday that in his opinion the creation of a single command for the Guardia Civil and the National Police Force, directed by the Majorcan Joan Mesquida, will avoid “terrible events like March 11”. During a press conference, Socias said that there had been a “coordination failure” and a lack of information flow between the two forces during the bombings in Madrid on March 11 2004. According to Socias, the installation of this office, which unites the management of the Guardia Civil and the National Police Force, “will increase coordination between the two”. Socias said that if it had been “good news” that a Majorcan had been appointed director general of the Guardia Civil, the announcement that he had been chosen to be the director of the National Police Force as well was “even better”. Socias said that the creation of this post was the fulfilment of one of the electoral promises of the PSOE (Spanish Socialists), who stated this intention in their manifesto.