Elche's Easter Week Secured with Over 600 Police Officers

Elche's Easter Week is fortified during its main days. The City Council has organised a security operation comprising over 600 police officers to manage the influx of thousands of visitors and tourists.

Between April 12 and 20, the Elche Local Police will deploy a total of 654 personnel, including commanders and officers. Of these, 374 will be assigned to event and procession security, while 280 will focus on beaches, neighbourhoods, and districts.

This police operation will include the Canine Unit and the use of drones. Additionally, a hundred National Police officers, a hundred Civil Protection volunteers, along with Urban Mobility and Maintenance health assistance, will participate.

Elche Local Police Commissioner and Emergency Coordinator, Jesús Andreu, stated that traffic cuts in the city will occur one hour before the processions. Therefore, he recommends using alternative routes such as Avenida de la Libertad, Pedro Juan Perpiñán, or the EL-20.

Meanwhile, the Councillor for Institutional Relations, Juan de Dios Navarro, emphasised the "commitment to work hand in hand with the Local Police to enjoy a safe, incident-free, and normal Easter Week that we can be proud of."

The Elche City Council will launch another special operation for cleaning, waste collection, and container removal, consisting of 185 workers and 80 vehicles to prepare the streets for Easter Week, with individual attention to each procession and increased personnel.

The plan anticipates that the routes and streets where processions pass will be "in optimal conditions" as soon as possible. Teams will perform mechanical and manual sweeping, special treatment to remove candle wax with high-pressure steam, installation of removed furniture, and repositioning of containers and reinforcement bins.

The Rapid Intervention Service for incidents will be expanded during Easter Week, in addition to covering cleaning and collection for the extraordinary opening of markets and stalls on Maundy Thursday, along with daily cleaning of the picnic area surroundings at the reservoir.

Prior to this, cleaning and washing, removal of urban furniture, placement of containers for used candles and caps, and the temporary repositioning and reinforcement of containers at strategic points will be carried out. Selective waste bins will also be installed on beaches, and cleaning and sand sifting services will be reinforced.

Councillor Navarro has asked for understanding from the citizens of Elche regarding the alteration of urban bus services and the modification of different lines due to the processions on Palm Sunday morning and afternoon, as well as from Holy Monday to Good Friday in the afternoon and evening, and on Easter Sunday morning.

Thus, alternative stops will be indicated at affected stops, and changes in lines will be communicated by the drivers themselves and in real-time through the urban bus application. In this regard, a generic bus stop will be established on Cristóbal Sanz Street, at the intersection between Jorge Juan and José María Buck.