Change in the National Police following the sexual assault case: Marlaska chooses the Balearic Islands chief as his second-in-command
José Santafé Arnedo will replace José Ángel González, who is under investigation, in the top police command position of the force.
The current head of the National Police in the Balearic Islands, José Santafé Arnedo, will now be the new Deputy Director of Operations (DAO) of the force. Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska appointed him to the top police command position, replacing José Ángel González, who resigned when it became known that he was under investigation. allegedly for sexually assaulting a subordinateThe vacancy for the position of Deputy Director of Operations (DAO)—which in practice means being the number two in the force—opened seven days ago, and Santafé submitted his application. Since González's resignation and while the new police chief was being chosen, the position had been temporarily filled by the deputy director of human resources, Gema Barroso. Finally, Marlaska chose Santafé at the suggestion of the director general of the force, Francisco Pardo; a political leadership position and the only one above the DAO.
Santafé is 61 years old and has held various positions throughout his career in the force, which began in 1990. As an inspector, he worked in public safety, the judicial police, and immigration matters, both in Madrid and the Balearic Islands. In 2005, Santafé was promoted to chief inspector and in 2012 to commissioner. With this rank, he served in the Canary Islands and again in the Balearic Islands, where in 2020 he reached the highest rank in the police force—that of chief commissioner—and since 2022 had been the chief superintendent of the regional police headquarters. During this time, he worked alongside the current Secretary of State for Security, Aina Calvo, who served as the Spanish government's delegate in the Balearic Islands between 2020 and 2023.
Santafé graduated with a teaching degree from the Complutense University of Madrid, and the curriculum vitae shared by the Ministry of the Interior also highlights "numerous courses and training sessions" related to hate crimes, public safety management, international cooperation in digital policies, and international cooperation in digital policies.
