Last updated Map showing the different police forces in Spain. * Dark orange: Autonomous communities with their own independent police force from the NPC. * Medium orange: Autonomous communities with A.U. (attached units) of the NPC. * Grey: Autonomous communities. without their own independent police force and without A.U. of the NPC.
The organization is outlined in Article 104 of the Spanish Constitution of 1978.[3]
Mission
"All bodies integrated as Security Forces and Corps, in accordance with the aforementioned Organic Law, have the basic functions established by the Constitution in its Article 104.1: '(...) to protect the free exercise of rights and freedoms and guarantee citizen security'."
Structure
The territorial organization of Spain implies the existence of three administrative levels (national, autonomous, and local). In this way, each territorial Administration has or can have a security body inserted into its organization.
According to Article 2 of Organic Law 2/1986, the Security Forces and Corps are composed of:
The State Security Forces and Corps dependent on the Central Government.
The Police Corps dependent on the Autonomous Communities.
The Police Corps dependent on the Local Corporations.
State Security Forces and Corps
A distinction must be made between "security forces and corps," which refers to all police forces, and "State security forces and corps," which refers only to the security forces of the General State Administration, which are the National Police Corps and the Civil Guard.
The Civil Guard constituted the first state-wide police force in Spain, with effective deployment throughout the state territory and a continuity over time that reaches the present day. It was created by order of Isabella II in 1844; it is the oldest police force in Spain and one of the oldest in Europe.
In accordance with Law 2/86, the Civil Guard Corps is an armed institute of a military nature with a dual dependency:
Ministry of the Interior: The scope of action of the Civil Guard Corps encompasses the prevention, investigation, and prosecution of crime throughout the Spanish territory, being the main police body in 90% of the territory and its territorial sea. In addition, it controls interurban road traffic and performs state fiscal protection functions (similar to customs police at borders, but throughout the territory), all under the dependency of the Ministry of the Interior. Its fundamental mission is to guarantee the free exercise of rights and freedoms, as well as to guarantee citizen security within its territory of competence.
It is a gendarmerie-type police force (that is, a police body of a military nature and structure, although with a majority of civil missions and tasks) with the most competencies in the world, with the possible exception of the Carabineros de Chile.
Ministry of Defence: The Civil Guard has participated as a military force in different missions, mainly humanitarian, entrusted to it by the Spanish Government. As a main military mission, its role as Military Police stands out.
The Civil Guard corps has various specialties. The supreme command of the Civil Guard corresponds to the Director General of the Civil Guard, under the dependency of the Minister of the Interior.
According to Law 2/86, the National Police Corps (NPC) is an armed institute of a civilian nature that usually depends on the Ministry of the Interior.
Although some sources place the origin of the National Police Corps as a state police force (under different names) in the year 1824, when Ferdinand VII issued a Royal Decree creating the "General Police of the Kingdom," it was never truly fulfilled nor had a state-wide deployment. It was following this failure that the gendarmerie model was chosen and the Civil Guard was created.
The predecessors of the current National Police Corps can be considered, with the corresponding historical continuity, the National Police Corps, the Higher Police Corps, the Armed Police Corps, the General Police Corps, the Security Corps, the Surveillance Corps, the Protection and Security Corps, and the General Police of the Kingdom created by Ferdinand VII.
On March 13, 1986, the Organic Law on Security Forces and Corps was promulgated, unifying the National Police and Higher Police Corps into the current National Police Corps.
The National Police Corps has as its scope of action the prevention, investigation, and prosecution of crime generated in urban centers determined by the Ministry of the Interior. Of a civilian nature, its mission is to protect the free exercise of rights and freedoms, as well as to guarantee citizen security within the aforementioned urban centers.
It has various specialties and brigades. The supreme command corresponds to the Director General of the Police, under the dependency of the Minister of the Interior. At the provincial level, command is exercised by the corresponding Government Sub-delegate.
Functions and competencies vary greatly from one territory to another depending on what has been agreed between the regional governments and that of the nation. However, Article 38 of Organic Law 2/1986, of March 13, on Security Forces and Corps, establishes the functions and competencies that autonomous police forces can acquire:[4]
Ensuring compliance with the provisions and unique orders issued by the organs of the Autonomous Community.
The surveillance and protection of persons, organs, buildings, establishments, and dependencies of the autonomous community and its instrumental entities, ensuring the normal functioning of facilities and the safety of users of their services.
The inspection of activities subject to the regulation or discipline of the autonomous community and the reporting of any illicit activity.
The use of coercion to enforce the acts or provisions of the autonomous community itself.
In collaboration with the State Security Forces and Corps, prioritizing the action of the autonomous police forces:
Providing services simultaneously and undifferentiated with the State Security Forces and Corps:
Cooperation in the friendly resolution of private conflicts when required to do so.
The provision of aid in cases of accident, catastrophe, or public calamity, through participation in the manner provided by laws, in the execution of civil protection plans.
The Alava Miñones (Template:Lang-eu) are the oldest police body in Spain that remains active, predating the Civil Guard. It was founded in 1793 as the foral police of Alava, along with the now-defunct Biscay Miñones and Guipuscoa Miquelets.[6] Currently[when?] it is a unique body as it maintains its eminently foral character, at the service of the Foral Deputation of Alava, on which it depends functionally, but is organically inserted within the structure of the Basque Autonomous Police, the Ertzaintza.[7]
The representation of foral institutions and the protection of their authorities.
The surveillance and protection of foral heritage assets.
The security of users of provincial facilities.
Performing police tasks in matters of both road transport inspection and road conservation and surveillance.
The provision of aid to the rest of the units or services of the body, in accordance with the rules of the Security Department of the Basque Government.
Units of the National Police attached to Autonomous Communities
Police vehicle of the Attached Unit of the NPC to the Valencian Country.Police vehicle of the Attached Unit of the NPC to the autonomous community of Aragon.Police vehicle of the Attached Unit of the NPC to the autonomous community of Galicia.Police vehicle of the Attached Unit of the NPC to the autonomous community of Andalusia.
Each City Council can expand the competencies of its local police based on the requirements of the municipality. It is understandable that the functions of a police force in a municipality with few inhabitants are much more limited than those in large cities like Barcelona, Valencia, or Madrid, where local police possess bodies with very high endowments and a staff that sometimes, as in the Madrid city hall, exceeds in number of members some autonomous police forces.
Nevertheless, Organic Law 2/86 of March 13 on Security Forces and Corps, in its Article 53, indicates the minimum functions that the local police must assume, being those listed below, without prejudice to these being expanded.
Protecting the authorities of local corporations.
Surveillance and guarding their buildings and facilities.
Ordering, signaling, and directing traffic in the urban center, in accordance with the provisions of traffic regulations, when means require it.
Instructing reports for traffic accidents within the urban center.
Administrative police regarding ordinances, edicts, and other municipal provisions within the scope of its competence.
Participating in judicial police functions in the manner established in Article 29.2 of the same law.
Providing aid in cases of accident, catastrophe, or public calamity, participating, in the manner provided by law, in the execution of civil protection plans.
Performing prevention procedures and all actions tending to avoid the commission of criminal acts within the framework of collaboration established in security boards.
Cooperating in the resolution of private conflicts when required to do so.
Other local bodies
Likewise, local corporations meeting certain characteristics can create positions for police auxiliaries or municipal watchmen and mobility agent corps to complement the work of the local police. An example of these bodies is the Mobility Agents Corps of the Madrid City Council. Generally, these bodies, although it varies depending on the legislation of each autonomous community, are created in municipalities with few resources that cannot afford the creation of a local police body.
Special Security Brigades of the autonomous community of Madrid (SSBACM)
There is, furthermore, a unique exception: the Special Security Brigades of the Community of Madrid. These units did not constitute an autonomous police force but an entity created by the Community of Madrid to provide local police service to municipalities too small to afford it on their own and also to reinforce those of larger size, with the exception of Madrid capital.[11] Currently, the model has been replaced by ESICAM179 and the unification of the training of all bodies of the Community of Madrid at IFISE.
Other bodies with police functions
In Spain, in addition to the Security Forces and Corps, which are only those indicated by Organic Law 2/1986, of March 13, on Security Forces and Corps, there are several bodies with different attributions but which perform some police-type functions.
Customs Surveillance Service
Ocean-going vessel 'Fulmar' at the Las Palmas arsenal of the Customs Surveillance Service.
The Customs Surveillance Service (SVA) is a police-type service that carries out its activity in the fight against smuggling, money laundering, and tax fraud, which organically depends on the Department of Customs and Excise of the Tax Agency (AEAT).
Its operations and investigations are aimed at the repression of crimes and infractions typified in the Organic Law on the Repression of Smuggling, throughout the Spanish territory, its airspace, and its jurisdictional waters; although the means it possesses allow it to perform interceptions and boardings of vessels dedicated to drug trafficking in international waters.
To these must be added those attributed by the Tax Agency regarding economic crimes, among them, the fight against corruption or the investigation of fraud in foreign trade, among others. Its officials have the character of Agents of Authority and, given the missions they perform, are authorized to use firearms.
The Port Police is a uniformed body dependent on each of the Port Authorities of Spain, with State Ports integrated into the Ministry of Public Works. It is one of the oldest police forces in Spain, with its origins dating back to the reign of Charles III between 1759 and 1788, when the Royal Corps of Watchmen-Quay Guards was created. Later, naval officers and carabiners were gradually introduced into its ranks, becoming the Royal Corps of Quay Guards in the mid-Template:Segle. The reform of the Law on State Ports and the Merchant Marine in the early 90s changed its name to the current Port Police.
Access is through a competitive examination, passing theoretical, practical, physical, and psychotechnical tests.
It is an administrative police force, its members being agents of authority, who have competencies similar to those of local police (citizen security, traffic, emergencies...) and are also responsible for all those related to port operations (control of infractions in port waters, berthing, access, environment, etc.) always within their demarcation within the limits of the corresponding port areas.
A distinction must be made between the Port Police of the Ports of General Interest of the State and those of autonomous ownership, regulated by legislation dependent on the autonomous community in question.
Currently, there are different initiatives seeking professionalization of the sector, seriously affected by privatization policies in recent years, with the added handicap of being an unknown police force as it is located in state-owned port areas with restricted access. These initiatives are focused on the inclusion of the Port Police in the Organic Law on Security Forces and Corps, the updating of its functions in the Service, Police, and Regime Regulations of State Ports, as well as the creation of a Port Police Coordination Law.
Forest, Rural, Environmental Agents or Environmental Police
Forest Agents, also named according to each autonomous community or municipality with their own bodies as Rural, Environmental Agents or Environmental Police, are public officials who hold the status of agents of authority in the exercise of their functions.[12]
They belong to public administrations that, in accordance with their own regulations and regardless of the specific corporate name, are entrusted with the functions of:[13]
Environmental management, exercising inspection and control functions in accordance with administrative environmental regulations: mountains, forest fires, hunting, fishing, protected spaces and species, environmental impact, environmental quality, etc.
These are bodies that depend on the autonomous communities, with some also existing at the municipal level that manage and perform the same functions but within the natural areas of their respective municipal boundaries.
Despite being a body with special administrative police functions, that is, only with certain competencies, and generic judicial police, the functions and integration, as well as the population's treatment of the agents, vary greatly depending on the autonomous community. For example, in Castile and León, vehicles are marked as "Environment" (Medi Ambient), not referring to the Environmental Agents of Castile and León (who are also integrated into the Ministry of the Environment and not as an independent body) and they do not carry the V-1 blue light signal of a police vehicle. On the opposite side are the Agents Rurals, who perform and have functions of a much more police-like character, as observed, for example, in their uniform and corporate image.
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![[[Policia Foral] vehicles.]]
Police vehicle of the Canarian Police General Corps.
Among the autonomous communities that have planned the creation of these bodies are the following, which have already proceeded to create their respective autonomous police forces: *Ertzaintza: is the autonomous police of the Basque Country. It replaces most functions of both the Civil Guard and the National Police Corps. Created in 1982 and deployed throughout the Basque territory in 1995. *Mossos d'Esquadra: is the autonomous police of Catalonia. It replaces most functions of both the Civil Guard and the National Police Corps. Created in 1983 and deployed throughout the territory in 2008. *Policia Foral: is the autonomous police of Navarre. It replaces most functions of both the Civil Guard and the National Police Corps. *Canarian Police General Corps: is the autonomous police of the Canary Islands. It does not replace the National Police Corps or the Civil Guard, but fulfills a role as complementary police providing assistance to the Local Police of the archipelago, acting in the face of catastrophes or public calamities, large human gatherings, as well as other competencies indicated in the Law and the Statute of Autonomy of the Canary Islands.
Alava Minones Corps
Patrol vehicle of the Alava Minones (Arabako Minoiak in Basque)
. Coches policia foral navarra.png](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/34/Coches_policia_foral_navarra.png/250px-Coches_policia_foral_navarra.png)
