The National Police operate in all of the capitals of Spain’s provinces and other large towns.
When you arrive in Spain and decide you would like to buy/rent a property or work, one of the first things you will need to do in apply for your NIE Number (Numero de identidad de Extranjero), which means that you will have to have your first (and hopefully last!) brush with The National Police Corps (Cuerpo Nacional de Policia, CNP).
The National Police force, created in 1986 and under the authority of Spain’s Ministry of Interior, is mainly responsible for policing the urban areas whereas in the countryside you will be more likely to see the Guardia Civil. The CNP handle criminal, terrorism, judicial and immigration matters – you may well have seen them at passport control on your arrival into Spain
As well as the issuing of identity documents, such as your NIE number or Certificado and the Spanish ID Cards, DNIs and passports, and controlling the comings and going of foreigners, the CNP has many other roles. As well as national security and terrorism, these include drug and gaming enforcement, collaborating with other agencies such as Interpol and Europol, control of private security companies and of course, general law enforcement. They also guard the Royal Family and important Government officials
You will see them wearing either a black uniform and a white shirt or a blue military style uniform and a large plain clothes sector also exists.
To join the National Police, prospective officers must all have been born or naturalized Spanish, between 18 and 30 years old and at least 1.60 metres tall for women and 1.65 metres tall for men when they joined. They are not allowed to have been convicted of fraud or previously dismissed by the state or government.
Applicants wishing to go the Police Academy must pass a physical test, an aptitude test, a multiple choice examination, a language test (in English or French) and a medical examination followed by an interview.
Once they pass all of these tests, they will go to the Academy for six months to learn firearms and self defence training, training in crime investigation, Spanish law and undertake practical exercises as well as learning some basic English. For the following three months they will have undertake practical and theoretical situations to test their skills.
There are many specialist units that the Policeman may then consider including tactical units, GOES (similar to SAWT), Anti Riot Unit, Computing Crimes, Monetary Crimes, The Canine Unit, Drug, explosives and people detection.
The National Police have a couple of nicknames including “the wood” or “the logs” which comes from a previous uniform which was brown or also “txakwrak” which is Basque for “the dogs”, possibly not one to mention as you wait for the Policeman to stamp your NIE certificate!
For more information on making your NIE or Certificado application at the police station, please contact us on www.niein1day.com or info@niein1day.com