El servicio de serenos se amplía a El Cerezo y ya alcanza 34 barrios de Sevilla

The Mayor of Seville, José Luis Sanz, accompanied the city's community watch officers (known as "serenos") on their first night of service in the El Cerezo neighborhood on Monday, covering the area from Sánchez Pizjuán Avenue to San Lázaro Avenue. With the addition of these areas to the community watch officers' route, more than 5,000 Seville residents now benefit from this nighttime neighborhood watch service, which has steadily expanded in resources, territorial coverage, and effectiveness since its launch in December 2013. The service currently has 70 community watch officers and 3 coordinators deployed across 34 areas of the city. It operates every night of the year from 11:00 PM to 7:00 AM. The community watch officers carry out preventative and community-oriented work, including informing residents and visitors, mediating conflicts, identifying issues with street furniture, and acting as the first point of contact with emergency services when necessary. In no case do they replace the Local Police, but rather complement them with a close, community-oriented presence. Before going out on patrol, the officers receive training in operational protocols from the CECOP (Emergency Coordination Center) and Civil Protection, as well as specific training in the prevention of gender violence and the fight against LGBTQ+phobia, in collaboration with the Andalusian Women's Institute. Thus, Sanz emphasized that "the data supports the service's trajectory: the numbers for the first half of the year are overwhelming: 3,704 accompaniments, 808 calls to emergency services, 77 lost items processed, and more than 900 visits to businesses to offer our presence. The people of Seville have embraced this service, and this community support is the best incentive we have to continue expanding it, neighborhood by neighborhood." More than 40 of the new hires have been unemployed individuals enrolled in socio-labor integration programs under the Local Plan for Social Cohesion and Inclusion, within the framework of the ERACIS+ strategy, co-financed by the Regional Government of Andalusia and the European Social Fund Plus. "Behind each uniform, there is often a person who has returned to the job market thanks to this program. That is also part of building a city: providing a solution for those who need peace of mind in their neighborhood and for those who need a job opportunity," the mayor added. The neighborhood watch service began in December 2023 as a pilot project with 18 officers and 2 coordinators deployed in 12 neighborhoods of the Historic Center. The first major expansion took place in October 2025, increasing the number of officers to 50 and expanding coverage to 29 areas of the city, with an investment of 2.6 million euros. In May 2026, Las Almenas, Pino Montano, Consolación, and San Diego were added to the program, and now El Cerezo consolidates the program's continuous growth. Sanz concluded by stating that "this expansion is another step in a commitment we made from day one. We will continue to expand the service and bring it to new areas of our city. Every neighborhood where the night watchmen arrive is a neighborhood where this City Council demonstrates, on the ground, its commitment to the residents. El Cerezo had to be on the night watchmen's map, and today it is."