Benitatxell bids farewell to its Local Police Chief after 34 years in an emotional retirement ceremony

  • José Francisco Mayans received a touching tribute this Wednesday at the Town Hall, surrounded by family, colleagues and friends.
  • The chief of police joined the local police force along with two other new officers in 1990, when there was only one auxiliary police officer for the whole municipality.

The Council of El Poble Nou de Benitatxell has honoured this Wednesday its chief of Local Police, José Francisco Mayans. He is retiring after more than 34 years of service, 21 of them as chief.

His colleagues of the local police, together with the mayor, Miguel Ángel García, and the councillor of Security, María José Ivars, have prepared an emotional parade for him in the police station. They all said goodbye with a gesture of respect and admiration, both professionally and personally. Afterwards, they went to the Town Hall, where the rest of the municipal employees and the government team were waiting for him to celebrate a small institutional act in small committee.

Mayans received a plaque for his tireless service and commitment to the safety and welfare of El Poble Nou de Benitatxell in a ceremony that brought together some of his family, friends and members of Civil Protection at the Town Hall. In addition, his sister Rosa gave him a mural made by Jesús Català.

The protagonist recalled his entry into ‘that small staff of the Town Hall’. Mayans joined the local police force along with two other officers in 1990, when there was only one auxiliary police officer for the whole municipality. ‘Things have changed a lot since then. Everything has evolved and we work in a different way’, he pointed out, “but changes are always good if they are made with common sense”.

In his speech, he thanked the government team, especially the mayor and the councillor of Security, ‘for making me feel so good and for giving me the support I have had over the last few years’; all the departments of the Council, highlighting Social Services and Civil Protection; the colleagues and heads of Local Police in neighbouring towns; the 37 men and women who have been part of the Local Police force; and the ‘unconditional support’ of his family: ‘to Cati, my children, Loreto and Joan, my sister Rosa and my parents, especially my mother María’.

The mayor, Miguel Ángel García, also said a few words of recognition and gratitude. Visibly moved, he stressed what a ‘privilege’ it had been for the municipality to have him first as a police officer and then as chief because ‘his involvement has been the maximum and vocational’. Finally, the councillor María José Ivars wished him a happy retirement and said that ‘your human qualities will always be an example to follow and your good work as a police officer a reference for future generations’. The post of chief of local police will now be in hands of the officer until now José Vicente García.