Pedro Gordillo Bids Farewell After 41 Years of Tackling Puerto del Rosario Residents' Problems

“The residents’ problems are my problems.”

He has not announced a retirement date, but he is already stepping away.

The chief sub‑inspector of the Puerto del Rosario Local Police, Pedro Gordillo, is facing his departure from the force after 41 years of service to the community. Over more than four decades, as he admitted in a candid interview on the program La Voz de Fuerteventura—where he discussed the island’s emergency situation—he has taken the residents’ problems as his own.

Visibly emotional, with a trembling voice, he looked back and recalled that he never intended to become a local police officer; he joined “because of some friends—if you can even call them friends.” That spontaneous decision led to a lifetime devoted to public safety. After just five years he was promoted to chief, and since then he has led the Puerto del Rosario service, skillfully blending the necessary human touch with firm, responsible command.

“You have to make decisions, you have to know how to say no, and I have learned to say no, and I have said it many times, out loud.”

His memory is filled with vivid recollections of intense situations. The early years stand out, he emphasized.

“We were able, without an emergency service, to carry out many rescues—people in all sorts of conditions, even a baby caught in a fire. In other words, we were extremely daring.”

Duty called and the force responded. There were no set hours, he noted.

“It was 24 hours on call. If a colleague couldn’t come, I’d say, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll go home, shower, have breakfast, and be back.’ And then another 24 hours.”

Beyond direct action, Gordillo championed prevention and closeness to the community. He also intervened with young people using illicit substances, arranging referrals to detox centres where they could rebuild their lives.

“They would show up in a park, a boy or a girl with something, a mess. I’d call the parent: ‘I’m not going to kill anyone. Talk to your son or daughter and sort this out the way it should be sorted.’”

Today, many of those youths have careers and families, and they still seek him out to express their gratitude.

“I want to leave the way I arrived—without making noise.”

His legacy will be hard to match, given the imprint he has left through his character and methods. He is recognized not only by all security and emergency professionals across Fuerteventura but, above all, by the residents themselves.

Thank you, Gordillo, for the empathy and closeness you have shown throughout all these years.