The ''Mossos d'Esquadra'' (; ), also known as the ''Policia de la Generalitat de Catalunya'' and informally as ''Mossos'', is the regional police force in the autonomous community of

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

. They trace their origins back to squads formed in 1719.

History

On 21 July 1950 the Francoist-controlled Provincial Deputation of Barcelona was authorised to create a small security force using the historical title ''Mossos d'Esquadra''. These new Mossos were a militarized corps having little similarity to the earlier incarnations, with limited powers and small numbers, which was in charge of protecting the government buildings of the

Province of Barcelona Barcelona (; ) is a province of eastern Spain, in the center of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The province is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Lleida, and Girona, and by the Mediterranean Sea. Its area is .return of democracy to Spain, the ''Mossos d'Esquadra'' grew in number and powers. Since 25 October 1980 the force has been under the authority of the

Generalitat de Catalunya The Generalitat de Catalunya (; ; ), or the Government of Catalonia, is the institutional system by which Catalonia is self-governed as an autonomous community of Spain. It is made up of the Parliament of Catalonia, the President of the Govern ...

(the Government of Catalonia).

Previous Catalan forces

The , later known as the , (and informally known as the ), were

men-at-arms A man-at-arms was a soldier of the High Medieval to Renaissance periods who was typically well-versed in the use of arms and served as a fully-armoured heavy cavalryman. A man-at-arms could be a knight, or other nobleman, a member of a kni ...

who had fought as

irregulars Irregular military is any military component distinct from a country's regular armed forces, representing non-standard militant elements outside of conventional governmental backing. Irregular elements can consist of militias, private army, pr ...

in the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

, and were brought together by the mayor of the town of

Valls Valls () is a city and municipality in the Camp de Tarragona region in Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital of the comarca of Alt Camp. In 2014, it had a population of 24,570. Valls is known for its calçots – a type of scallion or green onio ...

near

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in Catalonia (Spain). It is the capital and largest town of Tarragonès county, the Camp de Tarragona region and the province of Tarragona. Geographically, it is located on the Costa Daurada ar ...

between 1719 and 1721. The corps was constituted as a militia to provide security to trade routes and fairs. It was created as a complement to the regular troops of the Bourbon army, which opposed the Miquelets, who survived as rebel supporters of Archduke Charles. The Mossos was manned by local people, who had to speak Catalan and be familiar with local paths, caves, and hiding places. It was eventually placed under military jurisdiction, but was less centralised than the Spanish police force (then known as the ''Intendencia General de Policía'') formed in 1817, or the yet-to-be-established ''Guardia Civil''. Throughout the centuries, control of the Mossos passed back and forth several times from Catalan authority to Spanish military command. The Mossos were dissolved in 1868 by General Prim after the fall of Queen

Isabella II of Spain Isabella II (, María Isabel Luisa de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904) was Queen of Spain from 1833 until her deposition in 1868. She is the only queen regnant in the history of unified Spain. Isabella wa ...

, since the Mossos had always been royalists. They were reinstated in 1876 under the reign of Isabella's son king

Alfonso XII of Spain Alfonso XII (Alfonso Francisco de Asís Fernando Pío Juan María de la Concepción Gregorio Pelayo de Borbón y Borbón; 28 November 185725 November 1885), also known as ''El Pacificador'' (Spanish: the Peacemaker), was King of Spain from 29 D ...

, but only in the province of Barcelona. Under his son Alfonso XIII of Spain, the Mossos were not well regarded in Catalonia, especially by the

Commonwealth of Catalonia The Commonwealth of Catalonia (, ) was a deliberative assembly made up of the councillors of the four provinces of Catalonia. Promoted in its final stages of gestation by the Regionalist League of Catalonia, it was strongly endorsed by municip ...

, who paid them but had no control over them. The Mossos flourished under Primo de Rivera's dictatorship; despite this, when the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII. ...

was proclaimed, the Mossos sided with the

. After the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, the last Mossos left Catalonia with the President of the Generalitat, and the corps was dissolved by the Francoist authorities until its recreation in 1950.

Current role

The Mossos d'Esquadra have now replaced the Guardia Civil and National Police within the territory of Catalonia. This process of substitution began in 1994 and was completed in 2008. The

Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia The Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006 () provides Catalonia's basic institutional regulations under the Spanish Constitution of 1978. It defines the rights and obligations of the citizens of Catalonia, the political institutions of the Ca ...

(Catalan: ''Estatut d'Autonomia de Catalunya'') defines the scope of action of the Generalitat Police Force – Mossos d'Esquadra as the whole of the Catalan territory, and states that it exercises all the functions of a police force in the following fields: * Public safety and public order * Administrative policing, including that deriving from State regulations * Judicial policing and criminal investigation, including the various forms of organised crime and terrorism, in the terms established by law * Patrolling and ensuring the safety of highways within Catalonia The Mossos d'Esquadra operate under the authority of the

within the territory of the autonomous community of Catalonia (through the Catalan Ministry of Home Affairs; Catalan: ''Departament d'Interior''). The National Police and the Civil Guard, by contrast, are commanded directly by the Spanish

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

. The Mossos keep some officers in Catalonia to support anti-terrorism operations, handle

identity document An identity document (abbreviated as ID) is a documentation, document proving a person's Identity (social science), identity. If the identity document is a plastic card it is called an ''identity card'' (abbreviated as ''IC'' or ''ID card''). ...

s, police immigration, and execute other limited responsibilities of the central government. The sidearms officers can pick from are the Heckler & Koch USP or the

Walther P99 The Walther P99 () is a semi-automatic pistol developed by the German company Carl Walther GmbH Sportwaffen of Ulm for law enforcement, security forces and the civilian shooting market. History Design work on this new generation sidearm began ...

both of which are chambered for 9×19mm. Regular Mossos can also use the Heckler & Koch UMP sub-machine gun, used by the Mossos during the

2017 Barcelona attacks On the afternoon of 17 August 2017, 22-year-old Younes Abouyaaqoub drove a van Vehicle-ramming attack, into pedestrians on La Rambla, Barcelona, La Rambla street in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, killing 13 people and injuring at least 130 others, ...

. The Mossos are trained in the ''Institut de Seguretat Pública de Catalunya'' (Public Safety Institute of Catalonia), which also trains local police officers.

Special intervention group (GEI)

The Special Intervention Group (GEI; in Catalan: ''Grup Especial d'Intervenció'') is a Mossos d'Esquadra body that specializes in situations with a high risk of armed violence such as terrorist detention, rescues of hostages, and VIP protection. This group is under the command of the Intervention Division. This group was created in 1984 with the collaboration of

Spezialeinsatzkommando ''Spezialeinsatzkommando'' (SEK, "Special Task Force") are police tactical units of each of the 16 German Landespolizei, state police forces that specialize in a quick response with SWAT unit tactics to emergencies. Along with the ''Mobiles Einsa ...

(SEK) of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It was kept secret in anticipation of the security challenges that would be posed with the holding of the

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Olympic Games in 1992. Another rationale for its creation was to transfer responsibility for

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

s to the Generalitat de Catalonia; this was felt to require a protocol to deal with riots or hostage-taking.

Armament

The force has a large quantity and variety of weapons. Each of the weapons is assigned only to one GEI.

Vehicles

* The Mossos employs several makes of vehicles, for both patrol and undercover operations. These vehicles are high-powered SUVs, vans, motorbikes and 4x4 vehicles. They also operate helicopters and drones for aerial operations.

Controversies and legal cases

Controversies related to the Mossos d'Esquadra include: * In 2008, three Mossos were sentenced to six years of imprisonment for the torture and injury of an alleged delinquent who was later proven not guilty. In 2009, the Tribunal Supremo reduced the sentence. In 2012, the offending Mossos were paroled. * In 2016, six agents were detained for their involvement in a cardiac failure of a businessman in the Raval neighbourhood. * In 2017, the central government suspended the Chief of Police Major Trapero during the 2017–18 Spanish constitutional crisis, and also placed the force under investigation. The Mossos were eventually cleared of any wrongdoing and Trapero was reinstated.

Gallery

File:Seat Ateca dels Mossos 01.jpg, Patrol car. File:Llanxa aquàtica Mossos d'Esquadra.jpg, Maritime unit of Mossos d'Esquadra. File:Mollet del Valles-Av Llibertat - Mossos - 2015-05-30 1 - JTCurses.jpg, Old patrol car of the Mossos. File:03-GEI-Octavio-Díez-Cámara-1030x773.jpg, Special Intervention Group of the Mossos. File:Anon mossos retallades.jpg, Mossos of the public order unit (BRIMO) in a protest. File:Vestit blanc.JPG, Equipment for entering the sewers. File:Mossos d'Esquadra Palau de la Generalitat.png, Mosso d'Esquadra in dress uniform. File:Represión sobre liberales en la ciudadela de Barcelona durante el gobierno del Conde de España, los soldados son mosis escuadra.jpg, 1714–1719, the soldiers are Mossos d'Esquadra. File:Rastreig d'un bosc durant el s. XIX 2.JPG, Forest tracking in XIX century.

References

External links

Official web page of the Mossos d'EsquadraOfficial web page of the Local Police Forces of Catalonia
{{Authority control Catalan law Regional law enforcement agencies of Spain 1719 establishments in Spain