The (; CESID) was the
Spanish intelligence agency
An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, Intelligence analysis, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy obj ...
before the current
Centro Nacional de Inteligencia (CNI) took over as its successor in 2002.
History
Following the dissolution of the Information Service and Military Police, ''Servicio de Información y Policía Militar (SIPM)'' at the end of the
civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
, the intelligence organizations of the
Francoist period were the Central Documentation Service, ''Servicio Central de Documentación (SECED)'', the
Political-Social Brigade, ''Brigada Político-Social'' (BPS)—a special branch of the plainclothes corps later renamed ''Brigada de Investigación Social'' (BIS) (Social Investigation Brigade)—and the
Intelligence Service of the Civil Guard. Keeping files on the rural and urban population of every part of Spain, these bodies carried on close surveillance and political intimidation on behalf of the
Francoist government.
But the most notable of all was the ' which was the abbreviated name for the ''Servicios de Información del Ejército de Tierra, la Armada y el Ejército del Aire'' (Information Services of the Army, Navy and Air Force). It was the Second "Section", or Intelligence, of the respective Headquarters, hence the name "Segunda" or Second. During the 1940s, its main role was to counter the activities of the
Spanish Maquis
The Maquis (; ; also spelled maqui) were Spanish guerrillas who waged irregular warfare against the Francoist dictatorship within Spain following the Republican defeat in the Spanish Civil War until the early 1960s, carrying out sabotage, rob ...
in their attempted resurgence in Spain who in October 1944, attempted an invasion of the
Aran Valley. In 1957, its expenses amounted to 311,455₧ (€100,000).
The was established in 1977 by Defense Minister
Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado to replace the discredited former organizations in order to prepare Spain for
a more democratic rule. On 2 November 1977 The (SIPG) was merged with the CESID.
[Paul Preston (2005); ]
The Triumph of Democracy in Spain
', p. 97
By a royal decree of January 1984, CESID was defined legally as the intelligence agency of the
prime minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
. Nevertheless, it was fundamentally military in nature, and its head in 1988 was an army lieutenant general,
Emilio Alonso Manglano.
[Ruiz Miguel, Carlos.: ]
El CESID: Historia de un intento de modernización de los Servidos de Inteligencia
' Arbor CLXXX, 709 (January 2005), pp. 121–150 Observers speculated, however, that Manglano, who had held the post since 1981, eventually would be succeeded by a civilian.
Employing about 2,000 individuals as of 1988, CESID was staffed primarily by the military, supplemented by 500 members of the Civil Guard and by 80 plainclothes police. About 30 percent of the members of the staff were civilians, said to be selected usually from among close relatives of military officers. Women had been confined largely to administrative tasks, but they were increasingly being entrusted with operational assignments.
The principal operating units were domestic intelligence; foreign intelligence; counterintelligence; economics and technology (primarily industrial espionage); and operational support (principally application of devices for surveillance and eavesdropping). Considerable emphasis in external intelligence was allotted to
North Africa
North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...
and to the security of
Ceuta
Ceuta (, , ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain#Autonomous cities, autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta is one of th ...
and
Melilla
Melilla (, ; ) is an autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was part of the Province of Málaga un ...
. Liaison was maintained with a number of intelligence services of North African and Middle Eastern nations, as well as with the
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
i agency,
Mossad
The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (), popularly known as Mossad ( , ), is the national intelligence agency of the Israel, State of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with M ...
. Interception of ship transmissions in the strait area was another focus of activity. Domestic intelligence centered on exposure of plots against the government, monitoring activities of unrecognized political parties, and counterterrorism.
Although CESID was the senior agency, it did not have a firmly established coordinating function over other intelligence bodies, which included the General Headquarters of Information of the
Ministry of Defense; the second sections of the army, the air force, and the navy staffs; and the
Civil Guard Information Service (SIGC), dedicated to criminal and terrorist intelligence.
In addition, the National Police Corps had a
General Commissariat of Information
The General Commissariat of Information (, CGI) is an intelligence service within the National Police Corps of Spain responsible for the collection, analysis and distribution of information relevant to domestic security, as well as its exploitati ...
(CGI), with an antiterrorist mission that included a Foreign Intelligence Brigade to investigate international terrorism aimed against Spain. Considerable rivalry and overlapping of missions characterized the entire intelligence system. CESID, in particular, was reported to be seeking to gain exclusive jurisdiction over police foreign intelligence activities.
Directors
*
José María Bourgon López-Dóriga (1977–1979)
*
Gerardo Mariñas (1979–1981)
*
Emilio Alonso Manglano (1981–1995)
*
Félix Miranda (1995–1996)
*
Javier Calderón (1996–2001)
*
Jorge Dezcallar (2001–2002)
See also
*
Armed Police Corps
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Centro Superior de Informacion de la Defensa
1977 establishments in Spain
2002 disestablishments in Spain
Government of Spain
Defunct Spanish intelligence agencies
Defunct law enforcement agencies of Spain