This Thursday, the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, appointed Chief Commissioner Luis Jesús Esteban as the new Chief of Police in Eastern Andalusia and Chief Commissioner María Elisa Fariñas as the new Chief of Extremadura. In this case, it is the first time in the history of the force in which a woman accesses the position of Senior Chief after joining the National Police on the basic scale and rising through internal promotion.
There is a precedent, that of the current Senior Chief in Cantabria, since September 2021, María del Carmen Martínez Ruiz, but she did not rise from the basic scale but through the executive and already from the position of inspector without first going through the ranks. lower. Fariñas entered as a police officer and has been promoted to officer, sub-inspector, inspector, chief inspector, commissioner and main commissioner, until today being named Senior Chief.
Both appointments have been made at the proposal of the Director General of the Police, Francisco Pardo Piqueras.
Born in Madrid, the new person in charge in Extremadura already has experience in this autonomous community since she was responsible for the Mérida Police Station in 2017.
María Elisa Fariñas joined the National Police in 1984. Her first assignment was the Higher Headquarters in Madrid. In 1990 she was promoted to police officer, in 1995 to sub-inspector and in 2002 to inspector. At that stage, she held different positions in the General Information Commissariat and the General Citizen Security Commissariat, as well as in the police stations of Vitoria, Puerto del Rosario and Torrejón de Ardoz.
In 2009, and after her promotion to chief inspector, Fariñas was assigned to the General Police Station for Immigration and Borders, where she remained until she was promoted to the rank of commissioner in 2016 and placed months later in charge of the local police station in Mérida. She later directed the San Blas-Vicálvaro District Police Station (Madrid). In 2019 she was assigned to the Training and Improvement Division, where she served as Head of the Selective Processes Area since 2021. Since June 2023 she has been the main commissioner.
Elisa Fariñas has a degree in Criminology and has different decorations and recognitions for her professional career and will become the first woman to lead the National Police in Extremadura.
On the other hand, Luis Jesús Esteban held the position of head of the Special Operations Group (GEO/GOES) of the National Police, while Fariñas was responsible for the Selective Processes Area of the Training and Improvement Division. A native of Zaragoza, he joined the National Police in 1995 in the category of inspector. He was promoted to chief inspector in 2010 and to commissioner in 2016. Since last June 2023 he has been chief commissioner.
Throughout his professional career, the new police officer in Eastern Andalusia has assumed different operational responsibilities, especially in the area of Citizen Security. Between 2003 and 2013 he was head of the Operational Group at the Higher Headquarters of Catalonia until he was named head of the local Manacor police station. After his promotion to commissioner, he held the position of provincial head of operations in Huelva and, later, the head of the Algeciras and Salamanca police stations. In 2022 he was appointed head of GEO / GOES, a position he currently held. Luis Jesús Esteban has a degree in Law and has different decorations and recognitions for his professional career.
