AUGC demands immediate investigation into agent's death in the “Mv Hondius” operation

According to the Unified Association of Civil Guards (AUGC), the officer—who was a reservist and serving outside his specialty—performed tasks not covered by current regulations.

The AUGC has demanded that the Directorate General of the Civil Guard launch an “immediate and transparent” investigation into the death, last Sunday, of a Civil Guard who took part in the evacuation operation of the MV Hondius in Tenerife, a vessel affected by a hantavirus outbreak.

In a statement, the union insists that responsibilities be clarified within the chain of command that authorized the participation of an officer “in reserve and outside his specialty,” assigning duties that allegedly fall outside the legal framework. The 63‑year‑old officer died on duty from a heart attack.

“What should have been a top‑level health response ended up highlighting, once again, the irresponsible management of human resources that the institution practices when it wants to hide its own shortcomings,” the union warned.

According to the AUGC, the officer began his shift at 06:00, driving from Santa Cruz de Tenerife to the port of Granadilla de Abona. Fourteen hours later he was still on duty, moving equipment and performing functions that, according to the union, did not correspond to his administrative status. At approximately 21:40 he suffered the fatal heart attack.

Agent in Reserve

The civil guard held a vacancy in the Main Staff of the Command of Tenerife, serving as a reservist and outside his specialty. The union describes this as the core of the problem, noting that in such a status the officer is assigned “specific and limited” duties that must avoid exposure to risks to his physical integrity, whether due to potential conflict or intense physical effort.

Integrating this reservist into the advanced post of the MV Hondius operation, the union argues, exposed him to potentially contaminated materials and forced him to endure an exhausting shift of more than fourteen hours.

Consequently, the AUGC has demanded that the Occupational Risk Prevention Service open an immediate investigation to determine:

• Whether the assignment of the officer to that operation was legal.
• Whether any members of the chain of command bear responsibility.

Appeal to the Courts

Depending on the findings of the investigation, the AUGC does not rule out taking the case to the Public Prosecutor’s Office to hold all responsible parties accountable.

“The arrival of the MV Hondius in Tenerife was not an unforeseeable emergency. It was known with sufficient advance to have organized a planned, orderly, and regulation‑compliant response. However, the USECIC of Tenerife limited rest periods, deployed guards without proper location assignments, and subjected them to endless shifts, with no one in the chain of command assuming the responsibility that corresponded to them,” the union added.

In this context, the union has long demanded that the Civil Guard recognize age as a labor risk factor:

“Because it is. Because science supports it. Because occupational‑risk legislation considers it an element that must be evaluated and integrated into service planning. Because a 63‑year‑old officer cannot be treated as if he were thirty.”

The AUGC warns that the officer’s death in Tenerife “is not an accident,” but a foreseeable consequence of a model that systematically ignores the conditions of its agents, has shown decades of resistance to adapting workloads to age and physical condition, and conceals its management incapacity behind each officer’s dedication.

“That dedication has a limit. And that limit cannot be set by the institution alone, at its convenience, for its own benefit.”