The two are wearing their Spanish police uniforms. There are no communication problems, both speak good German. Roberto Garcia Alvarez was born in Grevenbroich and has relatives in the Rhineland. Raquel has been learning German for years, which helps her in her daily work on the Canary Islands when tourists need help from the police. She has been stationed in Puerto del Carmen on Lanzarote for three months. She applied for the foreign assignment "to get to know the country and its people, to see how my colleagues work here and to improve my German". You can always learn something when you travel, says Roberto Garcia Alvarez. "An assignment abroad is simply interesting and exciting." In addition to the colleagues from Recklinghausen police station, the Spanish guests also got to know our police chief Friederike Zurhausen.
The head of the authority praised the project: "Sharing information and cooperating across national borders are not only key to success in international investigations. Police officers in a united Europe can also learn from each other in their day-to-day work. The experience that colleagues gain during missions abroad is a benefit for everyone."
Three officers from Recklinghausen Police Headquarters with language skills have already been on foreign assignments in Spanish tourist regions in the past two years as part of the "European police stations" project. In particular, they have been able to help in cases involving German tourists. For example, a German tourist who had his wallet stolen on the Way of St. James near Pamplona was visibly pleased to meet a German policewoman in this stressful situation and to be able to deal with the matter in his native language.
On May 1, Raquel Rey Grimón and Roberto Garcia Alvarez were repeatedly approached during their tours of the green hill at the Festspielhaus. "People recognized our uniforms and asked: Are you from Spain? Why are you here?" says Roberto Garcia Alvarez. "We told them about the exchange program - everyone liked it." And the two met a Bolivian man with whom they communicated perfectly in two languages.
Raquel Rey Grimón is a fan of Germany: "I could well imagine living here. Everything is so well organized here and I like the food, German wholemeal bread, jams..." Roberto Garcia Alvarez was impressed by the cooperation between the police, public order office, fire department and emergency services at the Volksfest. "Everything was perfectly planned and organized in advance. We can learn something from this coordination of the emergency services." He also looks a little enviously at the equipment used by his German colleagues.
The pair will continue to work shifts in Recklinghausen until the weekend, when they will fly back to their sunny homeland.