Guardia Civil (Spain)

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See Guardia Civil for other meanings of the phrase

The Guardia Civil is a Spanish police force with both military and civilian functions. It was founded in 1844 by Queen Isabel II of Spain after the First Carlist War to assure the occupation in the newly created border zone at the Pyrenees. They are primarily responsible for security at border areas, rural areas, and, in some cases, traffic zones. It is similar to the Italian Carabinieri and French Gendarmerie. Prior to 1835, similar policing was carried out by the Holy Hermandad.

1 Name
2 Characteristics
3 Reference
4 External link

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Name

It is also known as el instituto armado ("the armed institution"), la benemérita ("the good-deserving"). Its patrollers are known as números ("numbers").

One of their targets were vagrant Gitanos (gypsies), thought to be thieves. In the end of the nineteenth century, the Guardia Civil conducted a campaign against Andalusian anarchists, accusing them of being member of the secret society La Mano Negra.

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Characteristics

They typically patrol in pairs. Their traditional hat is the tricornio, originally three-beaked. Many of their members were drawn from poor regions of Spain such as Galicia.

Since its membership is considered military, they are not permitted to join trade unions, unlike the parallel National Police. Members of the Guardia Civil very often live in garrisons (casa-cuartel) with their families.

The symbol for the Guardia Civil consists of a crown, a sword and a fasces.

On February 23, 1981, Lt. Col. Antonio Tejero Molina, along with a few other members of the Civil Guard, attempted a coup d'etat by holding hostage the lower house of the Cortes during its vote of investiture of Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo as Prime Minister of Spain.

Guardia Civil is one of the targets of ETA attacks.

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