According to Dário Prates, the PSP currently has 835 agents in the Algarve, a number that has now been reinforced with the opening of 60 new vacancies.

The entry of new agents will allow the creation of two new rapid intervention teams for the airport, increasing the capacity for rapid reaction and intervention throughout the command, already anticipating the new tasks that the PSP will assume in the scope of border control, said Dário Prates.

Stressing that the means are always "by definition, scarce", the official praised, however, the "very positive response" within the scope of the identified needs, pointing out airport security and proximity policing as two of the main areas of focus.

Some of the police officers stationed in Faro are still attending specialization courses, among others, and the presentation of most of the new agents "will take place in the coming weeks".

The agents who will start working in the airport division will now have a specific training phase ahead, he added.

Also according to Dário Prates, only 7% of the staff of the PSP's Faro district command is female, with the average age of the agents being 47.8 years.

At the ceremony, José Luís Carneiro noted that this reinforcement "is only possible due to the placement of 900 new police officers who have now completed their training".

According to the official, the increase in the number of agents and the creation of two new teams at Faro Airport "integrate a wider set of restructuring measures" that will be taken.