Elite police in Palma for the King's visit.

Elite police in Palma for the King's visit. | Miquel A. Cañellas

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma28/03/2018 00:00
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Fifty officers from the National Police's elite intervention unit arrived in Palma on Tuesday. They have come to the island specifically to provide control and give additional protection to King Felipe and Queen Letizia, who will be attending mass at the Cathedral on Sunday.

This control has been felt necessary in light of events in Catalonia over recent months and because of the potential for protests by groups with independence sympathies in Majorca.

Other police units assigned to the citizen security brigade will be reinforcing the general police presence and bringing their experience of controlling crowds and riots. The intelligence unit, it is understood, has been monitoring the movement of individuals who are believed to be "specialists" in agitation and creating trouble.

The sentence given to the Majorcan rapper Valtonyc for insulting the crown, glorifying terrorism and threatening the staunchly anti-Catalan Jorge Campos has added further tension.

The King and Queen are expected to fly in early on Sunday morning. The Queen Mother, Sofia, is already in Majorca. On Monday she and her sister, Princess Irene of Greece, attended the benefit concert by the Balearic Symphony Orchestra at the Cathedral. This was for the Projecte Home charity that fights drug addiction in the Balearics.