The Civil Guard (Spanish: Guardia Civil; ['?wa?ðja ?i'?il]) is the oldest law enforcement agency in Spain. It is organised as a military force charged with police duties under the authority of both the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Defence. 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 military. It has both a regular national role and undertakes specific foreign peace-keeping missions. As a national police force, the Guardia Civil is comparable today to the French Gendarmerie, the Italian Carabinieri, the Portuguese National Republican Guard and the Dutch Royal Marechaussee as it is part of the European Gendarmerie Force.
As part of its daily duties, the Guardia Civil patrols rural areas (including highways and ports) and investigates crimes there, whilst the Policía Nacional deals with safety in urban situations. Most cities also have a Policia Municipal. The three forces are nationally coordinated by the Ministry of the Interior. The Guardia Civil is usually stationed at casas cuartel, which are both minor residential garrisons and fully equipped police stations.
Video Civil Guard (Spain)
History
The Guardia Civil was founded as a national police force in 1844 during the reign of Queen Isabel II of Spain by a Navarrese aristocrat, The 2nd Duque de Ahumada and 5th Marqués de las Amarillas, an 11th generation descendant of Mexican emperor Moctezuma II. Previously, law enforcement had been the responsibility of the "Holy Brotherhood", an organisation of municipal leagues. Corruption was pervasive in the Brotherhood, where officials were constantly subject to local political influence, and the system was largely ineffective outside the major towns and cities. Criminals could often escape justice by simply moving from one district to another. The first Guardia police academy was established in the town of Valdemoro, south of Madrid, in 1855. Graduates were given the Guardia's now famous tricorne or Cavaliers hat as part of their duty dress uniform.
The Guardia was initially charged with putting an end to brigandage on the nation's highways, particularly in the province of Andalusia, which had become notorious for numerous robberies and holdups of businessmen, peddlers, travelers, and even foreign tourists. Banditry in this region was so endemic that the Guardia found it difficult to eradicate it completely. As late as 1884, one traveler of the day reported that it still existed in and around the city of Málaga:
The favorite and original method of the Malagueño highwayman is to creep up quietly behind his victim, muffle his head and arms in a cloak, and then relieve him of his valuables. Should he resist, he is instantly disembowelled with the dexterous thrust of a knife...[The Spanish highwayman] wears a profusion of amulets and charms...all of undoubted efficacy against the dagger of an adversary or the rifle of a Civil Guard.
The Guardia Civil was also given the political task of restoring and maintaining land ownership and servitude among the peasantry of Spain by the King, who desired to stop the spread of anti-monarchist movements inspired by the French Revolution. The end of the First Carlist War had left the Spanish landscape scarred by the destruction of civil war, and the government was forced to take drastic action to suppress spontaneous revolts by a restive peasantry. Based on the model of light infantry used by Napoléon in his European campaigns, the Guardia Civil was transformed into a military force of high mobility that could be deployed irrespective of inhospitable conditions, able to patrol and pacify large areas of the countryside. Its members, called 'guardias', maintain to this day a basic patrol unit formed by two agents, usually called a "pareja" (a pair), in which one of the 'guardias' will initiate the intervention while the second 'guardia' serves as a backup to the first.
The Civil War
During the Spanish Civil War, the Guardia Civil forces split almost evenly between those who remained loyal to the Republic, 53% of the members (which changed their name to Guardia Nacional Republicana - "National Republican Guard") and the rebel forces. However, the highest authority of the corps, Inspector General Sebastián Pozas, remained loyal to the republican government.
The proportion of Guardia Civil members that supported the rebel faction at the time of the 1936 coup was relatively high compared to other Spanish police corps such as the Guardias de Asalto and the Carabineros (Real Cuerpo de Carabineros de Costas y Fronteras), where when the Civil War began over 70% of their members stayed loyal to the Spanish Republic.
Loyalist General of the Guardia Civil José Aranguren, commander of the 4th Organic Division and Military Governor of Valencia, was arrested by the victorious Francoist troops when they entered the city of Valencia at the end of March 1939. After being court-martialed, General José Aranguren was given the death penalty and was executed on 22 April in the same year.
During Francoist era (1939-1975) and attempted coup d'état 1981
Following the Civil War, under the authoritarian government of General Francisco Franco (1939-1975), the Guardia Civil was reinforced with the members of the Carabineros, the "Royal Corps of Coast and Frontier Carabiniers", following the disbandment of the carabinier corps.
The involvement of Guardia Civil figures in politics continued right up until the end of the twentieth century: on 23 February 1981, Lt. Col. Antonio Tejero Molina, a member of the Guardia Civil, participated with other military forces in the failed 23-F coup d'état. Along with 200 members of the Guardia Civil, he briefly took hold of the lower house of the Cortes before the coup collapsed following a nationally televised address by King Juan Carlos, who denounced the coup.
Colonial service
Locally recruited units of the Guardia Civil were employed in Spain's overseas territories. These included three tercia (regiments) in the Philippines and two companies in Puerto Rico prior to 1898. Over six thousand Civil Guards, both indigenous and Spanish, were serving in Cuba in 1885 and smaller units were subsequently raised in Ifni and Spanish Guinea.
Maps Civil Guard (Spain)
Modern force
The Guardia Civil as a police force, has had additional tasks given to it in addition to its traditional role.
It is the largest police force in Spain, in terms of area served. Today, they are primarily responsible for policing and/or safety regarding the following (but not limited to) areas and/or safety related issues (given in no special order):
- law enforcement in all Spanish territory, excluding cities above 20,000 inhabitants,
- highway patrol,
- protection of the King of Spain and other members of the Spanish Royal Family,
- military police as part of military deployments overseas
- counter drugs operations,
- anti-smuggling operations,
- customs and ports of entry control,
- airport security,
- safety of prisons and safeguarding of prisoners,
- weapons licenses and arms control,
- security of border areas,
- bomb squad and explosives (TEDAX),
- high risk and special operations unit (UEI),
- coast guard,
- police deployments abroad (embassies),
- intelligence, counterterrorism and counter-intelligence gathering (SIGC),
- diving unit (GEAS),
- cyber and internet crime,
- mountain search and rescue (GREIM),
- hunting permits and
- environmental law enforcement (SEPRONA).
Peacekeeping & other operations
The Guardia Civil has been involved in operations as peacekeepers in United Nations sponsored operations, including operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Angola, Congo, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Haiti, East Timor and El Salvador. They also served with the Spanish armed forces contingent in the war in Iraq, mainly as military police but also in intelligence gathering, where seven of its members were killed.
The counterterrorism branch of the Guardia Civil; the Unidad de Acción Rural (UAR) were deployed to Afghanistan to train the Afghan National Police as part of ISAF's Police Advisor Team (PAT) formerly the Police Operative Mentoring and Liaison Team (POMLT)
In addition to el instituto armado ("the armed institution"), the Guardia Civil is known as la benemérita ("the well-remembered"). They served in the Spanish colonies, including Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Spanish Guinea and Spanish Morocco.
The Guardia Civil has a sister force in Costa Rica also called the Guardia Civil. The Costa Rican 'guardias' often train at the same academy as regular Spanish officers.
The rapid reaction branch of the Guardia Civil; the Grupo de Acción Rápida (GAR) have been deployed to Iraq to train & assist Iraqi federal police in the fight against ISIS militants
Characteristics
Members of the Guardia typically patrol in pairs.
Members of the Guardia Civil often live in garrisons (casa-cuartel) with their families.
Since the Guardia Civil must accommodate the families of its "guardias", it was the first police force in Europe that accommodated a same-sex partner in a military installation.
The symbol of the Guardia Civil consists of the Royal Crown of Spain, a sword and a fasces. The different units have variations of this symbol.
The sidearm of the Guardia Civil from the 1970s to the early 1990s was the Star Model BM chambered in 9mm until its replacement with the Beretta 92, and in recent years the Beretta has been replaced with the H&K USP.
Uniforms
The traditional headdress of the Guardia is the tricornio hat, originally a tricorne. Its use now is reserved for parades or ceremonies. For other occasions a cap, a beret or the characteristic "gorra teresiana" is worn. A wide range of clothing is worn according to the nature of the duties being performed. The historic blue, white and red uniform of the Guardia is now retained only for the Civil Guard Company of the Royal Guard and the gastadores (parade markers) of the Civil Guard Academy.
A modernised new style of working uniform was announced for the Civil Guard in 2011, for general adoption during 2012. This comprises a green baseball cap, polo shirt and cargo pants. The historic three-cornered hat is to be retained for ceremonial parades and duty outside public buildings, together with the army-style tunic and trousers previously worn. The kepi-like "gorra teresiana" is, however, to be abolished.
Ranks and insignia
Organization & Specialities
The Corps has been organised into different specialties divided into operational and support specialties:
- UAR (Unidad de Acción Rural) - The counter terrorism branch of the Guardia Civil
- Seguridad Ciudadana - Public Order and Prevention service, which makes up the bulk of the Guardia Civil
- GEAS (Grupo Especial de Actividades Subacuáticas) - Divers
- GRS (Grupo de Reserva y Seguridad) - Riot control
- SEMAR (Servicio Marítimo) - Guardia Civils Naval Service, tasked with seashore surveillance and fisheries inspections
- SEPRONA (Servicio de Protección de la Naturaleza) - Nature Protection Service, for environmental protection
- SAER (Servicio Aéreo) - Guardia Civil Air Service
- Servicio Cinológico - K-9 Unit, for Drugs and explosives detection and people finding
- GREIM (Grupos de Rescate e Intervención en Montaña / Servicio de Montaña) - Mountain and Speleology Rescue
- Jefatura Fiscal y de Fronteras - Customs and Revenue Service
- SIGC (Servicio de Informacion de la Guardia Civil) - Intelligence Service
- TEDAX (Técnicos Especialistas en Desactivación de Artefactos Explosivos) - lit, Explosive Artifacts Defuser Specialised Technicians (EOD)
- Agrupación de Tráfico - Traffic Group, The Guardia Civils Highway Patrol, tasked with the control of highways and trunk roads
- GAR (Grupo de Acción Rápida) - Rapid Reaction Group. Special antiterrorist unit, operating within all of Spain and participating in some foreign missions
- UCO (Unidad Central Operativa) - Central Operative Unit, a branch of the Policía Judicial focused on complex or nationwide investigations
- UEI (Unidad Especial de Intervención) - Special Intervention Unit
Requirements
- Spanish citizenship
- Good standard or native Spanish language ability
- Cadets at sixteen and adult service between eighteen and thirty-one years old.
- More than 1.65 metres (65 in) tall (men) and 1.55 metres (61 in) (women)
- Having obtained Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO)
- No record of chronic illness and general good health.
- Ability to swim
Criticisms
Spying
On 23 July 2007, Roberto Flórez García, a retired GC officer assigned to the Centro Nacional de Inteligencia, was charged with spying for a foreign power (allegedly Russia).
Political involvement
Throughout the nineteenth century, the Spanish Army regularly became involved in politics; the Guardia Civil was no exception. For this reason, the guardias were seen historically as a reactionary force. On 3 January 1874, General Manuel Pavía y Rodríguez de Alburquerque stormed congress and ended the Spanish First Republic with a company of thirty guardias civiles.
The first three decades of the 20th Century in Spain was a time of great political turmoil. During this period the Guardia Civil served frequently in the restoration of order remaining mostly loyal to established regimes. Thus, it supported the dictatorship of General Miguel Primo de Rivera (1923-1930), but it also supported the Second Spanish Republic (1931-1939).
Unpopularity
At the end of the nineteenth century, the Guardia Civil conducted a campaign against criminal and anarchist elements of the Andalusian population, a campaign in which numbers of otherwise innocent members of the public found themselves accused them of being members of the secret society The Black Hand. For this reason the 'guardias' of that era were portrayed negatively in the literature and popular history, particularly by Spanish expatriate artists and writers. Under the pre-1931 monarchy, relations between gypsies and the Civil Guard were particularly tense.
Critics of the Guardia Civil, particularly Republican sympathisers, have alleged numerous instances of police brutality because of the organisation's association with Franco's regime. The fact that the Guardia largely operated in mostly rural and isolated parts of the country increased the risk of police violations of individual civil rights through lack of supervision and accountability. García Lorca's poems have contributed to the Guardia Civil's reputation as, at least at the time, a heavy-handed police force.
Equipment
Aircraft
- CASA CN 235
- INDRA P2006T
Helicopters
- MBB BÖ-105
- MBB/Kawasaki BK-117
- Airbus H-135
- Airbus H-365 Dauphin II
See also
- Emblems of the Spanish Civil Guard
- Civil Guard (disambiguation)
- Guardia de Asalto
- Policía Armada
- Policía Nacional
- Republican National Guard (Portugal)
- Civil Guard (Philippines)
- "Spanish Bombs" by The Clash, references the Civil Guard
- Operation Anubis
Notes
References
- de la Iglesia, Eugenio, Reseña Historica de la Guardia Civil, Madrid (1898)
External links
- Official web page
- Spanish police forces forum The most complete forum about different Spanish police forces.
- Seproneros - SEPRONA members unofficial web page
- Civil Guards members not Official web
Source of article : Wikipedia
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