The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaskaappointed this Thursday the main commissioner Luis Jesus Esteban new chief of police in Eastern Andalusia and the main commissioner Maria Elisa Fariñas new head 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 he did not rise from the basic scale but through the executive and from the position of inspector without first going through the lower ranks. 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.