The Canary Islands are provinces of Spain, and are divided into two; the Province of Santa Cruz deTenerife, which comprises the islands of Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera, El Hierro and the Province of Las Palmas, consisting of the islands of Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. The Province of Tenerife has a total population of around 950,000. Tenerife is the main island, its capital being Santa Cruz with a population of around 200,000. The island has around 5 million visitors each year of which approx., 1.9 million are from the United Kingdom.
The islands have their own Government and special status within the EEC - European Community.
King Felipe VI and his wife Queen Letizia head the Spanish Monarchy, following the abdication of the throne by his father King Juan Carlos in 2014.
There is an army garrison in the capital city Santa Cruz maintaining a military presence.
Police Service: This is extensive and generally, there is 'respect' for the service's officers. The Police Service basically consists of three groups - The Local Police (Policia Local) - The Civil Guard
(Guardia Civil) - The National Police (Policia Nacional).
Local Police - generally, care for the local citizens, policing the beaches, streets, deal with complaints and handle minor offences, in addition to controlling traffic.
National Police - operate the emergency services dealing with accidents, fires, robberies, etc., and deploy the appropriate force.
Guardia Civil - oversee and investigate more serious crimes including drug enforcement.