The Spanish Navy or officially, the Armada, is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation, the most famous being the discovery of America and the first global circumnavigation by Elcano. For several centuries, it played a crucial logistical role in the expansion and consolidation of the Spanish Empire, and defended a vast trade network across the Atlantic Ocean between the Americas and Europe, and the Manila Galleon across the Pacific Ocean between the Philippines and the Americas.
The Civil Guard is the oldest law enforcement agency in Spain and is one of two national police forces. As a national gendarmerie force, it is military in nature and is responsible for civil policing under the authority of both the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Defence. The role of the Ministry of Defence is limited except in times of war when the Ministry has exclusive authority. The corps is colloquially known as the benemérita (reputable). In annual surveys, it generally ranks as the national institution most valued by Spaniards, closely followed by other law enforcement agencies and the armed forces.
The Grupo Especial de Operaciones, is the police tactical unit of Spain's National Police Corps. The GEO has response capabilities and is responsible for VIP protection duties, as well as countering and responding to terrorism. Organized along the lines of many other police tactical units throughout Europe, the GEOs is focused on dealing with terrorist attacks, including aircraft hijackings as well as maritime threats and hostage taking. The GEO can also be used in a support role for Spanish Police operations outside the realm of terrorism, and is active in protecting visiting heads of state and providing security for high-profile events such as the 1992 Summer Olympics held in Barcelona. The GEO is a member of the ATLAS Network, that includes all the national police tactical units of European Union countries and some countries outside the European Union.
The Unidad Especial de Intervención (UEI) is the police tactical unit of the Guardia Civil, the Spanish gendarmerie.
The National Police Corps is the national civilian police force of Spain. The CNP is mainly responsible for policing urban areas, whilst rural policing is generally the responsibility of the Civil Guard, the Spanish national gendarmerie force. The CNP operates under the authority of Spain's Ministry of the Interior. They mostly handle criminal investigation, judicial, terrorism and immigration matters. The powers of the National Police Corps varies according to the autonomous community. For example, the Ertzaintza and the Mossos d'Esquadra are the primary police agencies in the Basque Country and Catalonia, respectively. In Navarre they share some duties jointly with Policía Foral (Foruzaingoa).
The Mexican Special Forces Corps are the special forces battalions of the Mexican Army. Formerly the Special Forces Airmobile Group (Spanish: Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales) or GAFE, the SF corps has six regular battalions; plus four specialized units, one of those units is the Fuerza Especial de Reaccion, the other three remain secretive for the public; the motto of the SF Corps is Todo por México.
Special Operations Group operates in multiple countries, such as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Philippines, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. It may refer to:
The Marine Infantry is the naval infantry branch of the Spanish Navy responsible for conducting amphibious warfare. Fully integrated into the Spanish Navy's structure, the branch's history dates back to 1537 when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor formed the Compañías Viejas del Mar de Nápoles, making it the oldest marine unit in existence.
In Mexico, both the army and navy have special forces groups or elite units.
The Spanish Air and Space Force (SASF) is the aerial and space warfare branch of the Spanish Armed Forces.
The Special Operations Command is the command charged with overseeing the various Special Operations Groups of the Spanish Army.
Spain has a long history of combating domestic and international violence and of training units for special warfare or intervention. The following military and police units currently operate under a Special Operations mandate:
The Perejil Island crisis was a bloodless armed conflict between Spain and Morocco that took place on 11–18 July 2002. The incident took place over the small, uninhabited Perejil Island, when a squad of the Royal Moroccan Navy occupied it. After an exchange of declarations between both countries, the Spanish troops eventually evicted the Moroccan infantry who had relieved their Navy comrades.
Special operations unit may refer to special forces in general.
The 19th Special Operations Group "Caballero Legionario Maderal Oleaga", GOE XIX, is one of the three currently existing Special Operations Groups and so is subordinated to the Special Operations Command. It was the former Special Forces unit of the Spanish Legion and was known as Bandera de Operaciones Especiales de la Legión, BOEL.
The structure of the Spanish Army as of April 2021 is as follows:
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