Guardia Civil

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"Guardia Civil" redirects here. See Guardia Civil (disambiguation) for other meanings of the phrase.

Río Nervión patrol boat, in Bilbao.

The Guardia Civil is a Spanish police force with both military and civilian functions, what is termed a gendarmerie. 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 and to stem the growing concerns in rural areas of banditry. 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.

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

At the end of the nineteenth century, the Guardia Civil conducted a campaign against Andalusian anarchists, accusing them of being member of the secret society The Black Hand.

[edit] Characteristics

They typically patrol in pairs. Their traditional hat is the tricornio, originally a tricorne.

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

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

Under nearly forty years of the authoritarian government of General Francisco Franco almost everyone feared them because of their excesses, great power and authority.

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 the lower house of the Cortes hostage during its vote of investiture on Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo as Prime Minister of Spain.

Guardia Civil was one of the targets of ETA attacks.

Today, Spanish Guardia Civil has changed much. The basic patrol unit of two agents is usually called a "pareja" instead of a "número". Nowadays, lots of women join the Guardia Civil and the popularity of the corps has grown. However they will always be remembered for the major role they played during Franco's oppression of Spain and her people.

Different special units have been added to the corps:

Unidad Especial de Intervencion - Special Intervention Unit
TEDAX (Técnicos Especialistas en Desactivación de Artefactos Explosivos) - Explosive Artifacts Defuser Specialised Technicians
UAR (Unidad de Accion Rural) - Rural Action Unit, for ecological and environmental defense).

They presently also patrol airports throughout Spain.