In Spain, there are two fundamentally different law enforcement agencies: the Guardia Civil and the Policía. Both groups have different areas of responsibility. For the German tourist or immigrant, it is often confusing which authority to turn to with which problem. Here are the basic differences between Guardia Civil and Policia.
Civil Guard
The Guardia Civil dates back to Franco's time and has military origins. They show a lot of presence especially in rural areas. Their area of responsibility is, among other things, the following:
- Motorway and rural road police
- Protection of the King and the Royal Family
- Military police
- Fight against drugs
- Prevention and detection of smuggling
- Customs and border control
- Prison guard
- Weapons licensing and control
- Border Guard
- Bomb disposal
- Public safety in rural areas
- Anti-terrorism
- Coastguard
- Intelligence gathering and counterintelligence
- Cybercrime
- Hunting licences
- Environmental law enforcement
The Policía is divided into Policía Nacional and Policía Local/Municipal. Their areas of responsibility are divided as follows:
Policía Nacional
- Identity documents (identity cards and passports)
- Control of citizens' income and expenditure
- Immigration law, asylum, refuge, extradition and deportation
- Law enforcement for gambling
- Fight against drugs
- Cooperation with Interpol and Europol
- Control of private security and locking companies
- general law enforcement
Policía Local/Municipal
The Policía Local is the local police department and is paid by the respective municipality. Their tasks are as follows:
- Surveillance of local authority buildings and facilities
- Protection of local government authorities
- Traffic control within the locality
- Traffic accidents within their community
- Thefts within the community
- Enforcement of orders and decrees
- Support for the judicial police
- Assistance in case of accidents and disasters and execution of plans for citizen protection
- Prevention of criminal activities
- Observation of public places
- Support in private disputes and riots
Emergency numbers within Spain
091 Policía Nacional
092 Policía Local
062 Guardia Civil
112 Police emergency call, fire brigade and ambulance
Note: In case of theft of money or possessions as a German tourist on the street, you must go to the nearest station of the Policia Local and file an official report (denuncia).
