Ceuta removes its Chief Superintendent of Local Police due to retirement

The president of the Autonomous City of Ceuta, Juan Jesús Vivas Lara, has decreed the dismissal of Sebastián Vega Murcia as Chief Superintendent of the Local Police upon reaching the ordinary legal retirement age on September 1, 2026. The decision is published in the Official Gazette of the City of Ceuta (BOCCE) number 6,649, dated September 4, 2026, via Decree 618 (reference BOCCE-A-2026-618), on page 3390.

The dismissal is adopted under article 14 of the Statute of Autonomy of Ceuta and article 21 of Law 7/1985, of April 2, on the Bases of the Local Regime. The decree, dated August 31, 2026, is signed by the president and by the acting secretary general, Miguel Ángel Ragel Cabezuelo.

A dismissal due to forced retirement

Sebastián Vega Murcia was appointed Chief Superintendent of the Local Police through the free appointment procedure via the Extraordinary BOCCE No. 1, of January 3, 2017. As a member of the Local Police, he is exempt from voluntary permanence in active service, in accordance with the Twenty-Fourth Additional Provision of Law 30/1984, of August 2, on Public Service Reform Measures, which has not been repealed by the Basic Statute of Public Employees.

The position of Chief Superintendent is classified within the Special Administration Scale, Special Services Subscale, Technical Scale, Police category, Group A, Subgroup A1. The Job Position List of the Autonomous City of Ceuta, approved by Government Council Agreements of December 30, 2024, and March 6, 2025, establishes the merit competition and free appointment as the methods for filling this position.

The leadership, already called for applications

With the retirement of Vega Murcia, the leadership of the Local Police becomes vacant, and the City has immediately activated its coverage. In the same issue of the gazette, Decree 615 (reference BOCCE-A-2026-615) is published, issued by the counselor of Presidency and Governance, Alberto Ramón Gaitán Rodríguez, on August 24, 2026, approving the bases of the call for the provision of a Chief Superintendent position of the Local Police Corps through the free appointment procedure.

The bases were reported to the trade union organizations at the General Negotiation Table for Public Employees on July 14, 2026, and are governed by article 80 of Royal Legislative Decree 5/2015, article 15.1 of the Local Police Corps Regulations, and article 41 and following of the Regulatory Regulations for the Relationship, Provision, Valuation, and Remuneration of the City’s job positions.

• Termination: Sebastián Vega Murcia, Chief Superintendent of the Local Police, due to retirement on September 1, 2026.
• Body: Presidency of the Autonomous City of Ceuta, decree of August 31, 2026.
• Call: Decree 615, bases approved on August 24, 2026, provision by free appointment.
• Position: Special Administration Scale, Special Services Subscale, Technical Scale, Police category, Group A, Subgroup A1.

Against the termination decree, which exhausts the administrative route, an optional appeal for reversal may be filed within one month, or a contentious-administrative appeal may be filed before the Contentious-Administrative Courts of Ceuta within two months.

The departure of Sebastián Vega Murcia closes a stage at the head of the Local Police of Ceuta and opens a process of renewal in the leadership of the force. The simultaneous call for the chief position guarantees the continuity of police command, a matter of special relevance for the security of the city, which now faces the selection of its new top official by free appointment.

Source: Official Gazette of the City of Ceuta (BOCCE), No. 6,649, September 4, 2026, p. 3390 (official reference: BOCCE-A-2026-618).