Nineteen officers have joined L’Hospitalet de Llobregat’s Guàrdia Urbana, the city’s local police force, and have begun supervised practical placements this week after completing their course at the Institut de Seguretat Pública de Catalunya, Catalonia’s public-safety training institute.

The recruits will work in different Guàrdia Urbana units alongside experienced officers. For residents, the placements add trainees to local policing teams while they complete the final practical stage of their preparation.

“Here you will be street, neighbourhood and people-centred police officers. Never lose sight of the fact that, behind every call-out, there is someone expecting professionalism, proximity and help from you,” Mayor David Quirós told the new recruits.

52 officers added since May 2024

According to the Ajuntament de L’Hospitalet, 52 officers have joined the force since Quirós became mayor in May 2024, including the 19 now starting placements. All are under 35, as part of an effort to lower the average age of the workforce.

The council said it is continuing to update the force’s vehicles, motorcycles, equipment and uniforms. Police vehicles have also been fitted with defibrillators, while the force has been integrated with the 112 emergency system.

36 further posts are in the recruitment process

The council has recruitment processes under way for 36 further posts:

  • 27 posts through an open competitive recruitment process, with 40% reserved for women to increase female representation in the local police force.
  • Nine posts through inter-administration mobility, a route allowing eligible serving public-sector officers to transfer between administrations.

The Ajuntament is also planning a new police station on Avinguda de Pau Casals and is working on further public-space CCTV, drones and controls on personal mobility vehicles.

It said a speed-measuring device used to identify modified electric scooters exceeding the legal 25 km/h limit led to 572 scooters being removed from circulation during 2026, compared with 340 during the whole of 2025. A process has started to acquire a second device.

Primary sources: Ajuntament de L'Hospitalet, Institut de Seguretat Pública de Catalunya, Ajuntament de L’Hospitalet. Reported by elcontrapunt.cat.