List of directors general of the Civil Guard (Spain)

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Director General of the Civil Guard
Director General de la Guardia Civil
Emblem of the Spanish Civil Guard.svg
Emblem of the Civil Guard
Mercedes Gonzalez 2018 (cropped).jpg
Incumbent
Mercedes González Fernández
since 28 March 2023
Ministry of the Interior
Secretariat of State for Security
Civil Guard
Style The Most Excellent (formal)
Mr. Director General (informal)
AbbreviationDGC
Reports toThe Secretary of State for Security
NominatorThe Minister of the Interior
Appointer The King
Formation2 September 1844
First holder Francisco Javier Girón
DeputyDeputy Director of Operations
Lt. Gen. Ángel Gozalo Martín
Website Civil Guard website
General Camilo Alonso Vega, longest-serving Director General of the Civil Guard (1943-1955). Camilo Alonso Vega.jpg
General Camilo Alonso Vega, longest-serving Director General of the Civil Guard (1943–1955).

This article lists the directors general of the Civil Guard, the national gendarmerie and a law enforcement agency of Spain.

Contents

The Director General is the official of the Ministry of the Interior who commands the Civil Guard, and heads the Directorate-General of the Civil Guard.

List

NameAppointedDismissedNotes
Francisco Javier Girón 2 September 184410 July 18541st term.
Antonio María Alós 18 July 18541 August 1854
Facundo Infante Chaves 1 August 185419 July 1856
José MacCrohon y Blake 1 September 185612 October 1856
Francisco Javier Girón12 October 18561 July 18582nd term.
Isidoro de Hoyos y Rubín de Celis 2 July 185821 November 18631st term.
Ángel García-Loygorri y García de Tejada 29 September 186425 June 1865
Isidoro de Hoyos y Rubín de Celis25 June 186528 December 18652nd term.
Francisco Serrano Bedoya 28 December 186511 July 18661st term.
Rafael Acedo Rico y Amat 11 July 186611 March 1867
José Antonio Turón y Prats 11 March 186716 September 18681st term.
Anselmo Blaser y San Martín 16 September 186826 September 1868 Glorious Revolution.
Juan Antonio de Zaratiegui y Zeliqueta 26 September 186825 October 1868
Francisco Serrano Bedoya25 October 186818 June 18722nd term.
Cándido Pieltain y Jove-Huergo 19 June 187226 March 1873Proclamation of the First Spanish Republic (11 February 1873).
Mariano Socías del Fangar y Lledó 5 July 187319 September 1873
Juan Acosta Muñoz 19 September 187310 October 1873
Segundo de la Portilla Gutiérrez 10 October 187318 January 1874
José Antonio Turón y Prats18 January 187428 September 18742nd term.
Fernando Cotoner y Chacón 28 September 187421 January 1882 Restoration of the monarchy (29 December 1874).
Tomás García-Cervino y López de Sigüenza 23 January 18825 November 18831st term.
Agustín de Burgos y Llamas 5 November 188326 April 1884
Ramón Fajardo Izquierdo 26 April 18844 August 1884
Remigio Moltó y Díaz-Berrio 6 August 18849 December 1885
Tomás García-Cervino y López-Sigüenza9 December 18853 December 18872nd term.
José Chinchilla y Díez de Oñate 13 January 188811 December 18881st term.
Thomás O'Ryan y Vázquez 11 December 188813 November 1890
Luis Dabán y Ramírez de Arellano 14 November 189022 January 1892
Romualdo Palacio González 30 January 18928 February 1899
José Chinchilla y Díez de Oñate8 February 18992 March 18992nd term.
Antonio Dabán y Ramírez de Arellano 16 March 189927 July 1901
Federico Ochando 27 July 190130 August 1902
Luis de Pando y Sánchez 30 August 190213 July 1903
Camilo García de Polavieja 13 July 190323 November 1903
Arsenio Linares y Pombo 23 November 19036 December 1903
Vicente Martitegui 7 December 190328 January 19051st term.
Joaquín Sánchez Gómez 28 January 190525 August 1910
Vicente Martitegui25 August 191025 January 19122nd term.
Ángel Aznar y Butigieg 31 January 19123 March 1913
Ramón Echagüe y Méndez Vigo 3 March 191330 October 1913
Agustín de Luque y Coca 30 October 191310 December 19151st term.
Enrique de Orozco 10 December 191523 July 1916
Antonio Tovar y Marcoleta 23 July 191620 April 1917
Agustín de Luque y Coca20 April 191726 June 19172nd term
Salvador Arizón y Sánchez Fano 26 June 19176 December 1918
Juan Zubia y Bassecourt 6 December 191826 March 1925
Ricardo Burguete Lana 27 March 19253 November 1928
José Sanjurjo 3 November 19283 February 1932Proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic (14 April 1931).
Miguel Cabanellas 3 February 193215 August 19321st term.
Cecilio Bedia de la Cavallería 15 August 193215 February 1935 Asturian miners' strike of 1934.
Miguel Cabanellas15 February 19357 January 19362nd term.
Sebastián Pozas Perea 7 January 193624 July 1936Remained loyal to the Republic following the Spanish coup of July 1936.
Spanish Civil War [n. 1]
Eliseo Álvarez-Arenas Romero 6 September 193913 April 1942Integration of the Carabineros into the Civil Guard (1940). [4]
Enrique Cánovas Lacruz 13 April 19421 July 1943
Camilo Alonso Vega 24 July 194330 May 1955Longest-serving Director General of the Civil Guard.
Pablo Martín Alonso 30 June 19558 February 1957
Eduardo Sáenz de Buruaga 8 February 195723 April 1959
Antonio Alcubilla Pérez 23 April 19597 December 1962Creation of the Traffic Grouping  [ es ] (1959). [5]
Luis Zanón Aldalur 10 December 196231 December 1965
Ángel Ramírez de Cartagena y Marcaida 14 January 196621 September 1967
Antonio Cores Fernández de Cañete 6 October 196722 January 1969
Luis Díez-Alegría 7 March 196913 January 1972
Carlos Iniesta Cano 21 January 197213 May 1974 Assassination of Luis Carrero Blanco (20 December 1973).
José Vega Rodríguez 17 May 197410 October 1975
Ángel Campano López 10 October 197523 December 1976Death of Caudillo Francisco Franco (20 November 1975) and the Montejurra massacre (9 May 1976).
Antonio Ibáñez Freire 23 December 19762 May 1978 1977 Atocha massacre.
Carlos Oliete Sánchez 2 May 19782 July 1979
Pedro Fontenla Fernández 2 July 197919 April 1980
José Luis Aramburu Topete 24 April 198026 October 1983 1981 Spanish coup d'état attempt, led by Lt. Col. Antonio Tejero of the Civil Guard.
José Antonio Sáenz de Santa María 2 November 19833 October 1986
Luis Roldán 31 October 19863 December 1993
Ferrán Cardenal de Alemany 3 December 19937 May 1996
Santiago López Valdivielso 7 May 199630 April 2004 2004 Madrid train bombings.
Carlos Gómez Arruche 30 April 200428 April 2006
Joan Mesquida Ferrando 28 April 200621 April 2008Unified command of the National Police Corps and the Civil Guard. Simultaneously served as the Director General of the Police.
Francisco Javier Velázquez 21 April 200831 December 2011
Arsenio Fernández de Mesa 3 January 201218 November 2016
José Manuel Holgado Merino 18 November 201629 June 2018 2017 Barcelona attacks and the 2017–2018 constitutional crisis.
Félix Vicente Azón Vilas 29 June 201818 January 2020
María Gámez Gámez 18 January 202028 March 2023 First woman to hold this office.
Mercedes González Fernández 28 March 2023Incumbent

Notes

  1. During the Spanish Civil War, the leadership of the Civil Guard was split between the warring factions. Within the Republican faction, General José Sanjurjo y Rodríguez de Arias  [ es ] assumed the leadership, until the reconstitution of the body into the National Republican Guard. Within the Nationalist faction, General Federico de la Cruz Boullosa temporarily assumed the position of Inspector General, [1] being succeeded by generals Marcial Barro García  [ es ] (1936–1937), [2] Ricardo Serrador Santés  [ es ] (1937) and Emilio Fernández Pérez (1937–1939). [3]

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References

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