Guide To The Spanish Police Forces

Many people are confused by the different types of Police they see here in Spain and the areas of crime that each investigates and to whom crime is to be reported, here is a Guide to the Spanish Police Force with information obtained from the Spanish Solutions website ( https://www.spanishsolutions.net/ ).

The Span­ish po­lice is es­sen­tially com­posed of three forces: the Guardia Civil, the Poli­cia Nacional and the Poli­cia Local.

Some re­gions though have their own po­lice forces – all of which, in these areas, are in the place of the Poli­cia Nacional.

1. Guardia Civil.

To all in­tents and pur­poses, the Guardia Civil is a con­ven­tional po­lice force who op­er­ate in ex­actly the same way as the po­lice of any other mod­ern European coun­try. They have the re­sources, powers and fa­cil­it­ies of a nor­mal po­lice force and are gen­er­ally ad­mired within Spain for their high level of dis­cip­line and pro­fes­sion­al­ism. Whilst they are a mil­it­ary force (with mil­it­ary ranks) in peace­time they act un­der the civil au­thor­ity and have no ex­traordin­ary powers. The Guardia Civil wear green uni­forms and (when on ce­re­mo­nial duty) black tri-corner hats.

2. Policia Nacional.

The Poli­cia Nacional are nor­mally dressed in black uni­forms with white shirts but they can be seen also wear­ing blue, mil­it­ary-style uni­forms. Like the Guardia Civil, they are a con­ven­tional po­lice force – al­beit that they are a com­pletely civil force with civil (rather than mil­it­ary) ranks. 

Mostly the Poli­cia Local deal with local au­thor­ity en­force­ment mat­ters, to­gether with urban (city, town or vil­lage) traffic con­trol and any as­so­ci­ated vi­ol­a­tions. Crimes are not in­vest­ig­ated and any ser­i­ous mat­ter is im­me­di­ately handed over to either the Guardia Civil or Poli­cia Nacional – as ap­pro­pri­ate to the demo­graphic area. Al­most all Span­ish po­lice are armed al­though oc­ca­sion­ally this is not the case with vil­lage Poli­cia Local.

3. Policia Local.

Fi­nally, there is the Poli­cia Local. This is a force which is re­cruited, fun­ded and con­trolled by local town halls and that is re­spons­ible to the elec­ted Mayor. The Poli­cia Local wear blue uni­forms with white shirts and re­spond to minor crimes.

Mostly the Poli­cia Local deal with local au­thor­ity en­force­ment mat­ters, to­gether with urban (city, town or vil­lage) traffic con­trol and any as­so­ci­ated vi­ol­a­tions. Crimes are not in­vest­ig­ated and any ser­i­ous mat­ter is im­me­di­ately handed over to either the Guardia Civil or Poli­cia Nacional – as ap­pro­pri­ate to the demo­graphic area. Al­most all Span­ish po­lice are armed al­though oc­ca­sion­ally this is not the case with vil­lage Poli­cia Local.

If you are in Spain and you need the po­lice, here are their tele­phone num­bers:
For general emergencies: 112
To report a crime : 902 102 112
Guardia Civil: 062
Policia Nacional: 091
Policia Local: 092

From Wikipedia 

Law enforcement in Spain is carried out by numerous organizations, not all of which operate in the same areas.

• The Guardia Civil (Civil Guard) is a gendarmerie force and therefore, has a military status and patrols rural areas (including highways and ports) and investigate crimes there (78.000). They operate from garrison posts that are called casas cuartel ("home-garrisons") which are both minor residential garrisons and fully equipped Police stations. Answers to both the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Defence.
• The Policía Nacional or Cuerpo Nacional de Policía (literally, the National Police Corps, or CNP) has a civilian status and deals with criminal offences and public order in big towns and cities (65.000). It includes special anti-riot units. In some Autonomous Communities, autonomous police forces have taken over many of the CNP duties. Answers to the Ministry of Interior.
• The Policía Local or Policía Municipal (known as Urban Guard in the city of Barcelona) operate in most cities and important towns, concentrating on preventing crime, settling minor incidents, traffic control, and, crucially, intelligence gathering. Answer to the local governments (81.000).
• In some Autonomous Communities there is an autonomous police force, under the rule of the regional government, which carries out the duties of the Civil Guard and the National Police there. This police forces are the Troopers (Mossos d'Esquadra) in Catalonia (17.000), the Ertzaintza in the Basque Country (8.000), and the Chartered Police (Policía Foral or Foruzaingoa in Basque) in Navarre (1100). They answer to their respective autonomous governments. The Basque province of Alava retains Spain's oldest police force, the Miñones [1] ("Minions") founded in 1793. Although now an integral division of the Basque Ertzaintza, it answers to the provincial government of Alava.
• Additionally, there is a "special administrative police" which is not under the Ministry of the Interior nor the Ministry of Defence, but the Ministry of the Treasury. The Customs Surveillance Service is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of cases involving contraband, illegal drugs, financial evasion and violations, money laundering, surveillance for financial police purposes and the provision of judicial police services. Despite their civilian status, the officers are trained by both the National Police and the Navy Marines.

Locally, all enforcement agencies work together closely, and in serious matters, usually under the guidance of an Examining magistrate. Operational policy and major interventions are nationally coordinated under the direction of the Ministry of the Interior. 

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