The atmosphere is unbreathable among the police forces that operate in the government complex of Nuevos Ministerios in Madrid. The National Police and the Civil Guard have been in a dispute for months over security powers at the headquarters of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, which is holding hostage the security guards who also guard the building: about thirty who make up the staff, ten have requested leave due to anxiety. Everything, on account of the security protocol that prevents civil guards from entering the facilities armed, something they are not willing to abide by.
The National Police is in charge of security inside the buildings, the private company Sureste Seguridad S.L.U. It deals with access and control, and the Civil Guard is responsible for the outer perimeter. This is established by the internal security protocol.
The civil guards who monitor the perimeter used to enter through the main entrance of the ministry to go to their station, the cafeteria or the hairdresser’s, without identifying themselves and with their regulation weapon. The vigilantes, point out the sources consulted, occasionally turned a blind eye. But the director of Emergencies, Rubén Eladio López, enforces the protocol, which obliges the civil guards to identify themselves and leave their weapons at the door.
“The Civil Guard has no competence in the security of the ministry”, reports an e-mail that the Police inspector sent to the chief of the guards, in which he demands that he be notified if someone “disobeys” or “defies” the protocols , and details the attitude and threats, if they occur.
The response from the armed institute came last week, when the conflict escalated to its highest point. In two communications classified as confidential, forwarded by El Independiente, the colonel in charge of the protection and security unit of the Civil Guard addressed Inspector López in these terms: “You do not have the power or competence to order the services of the public force â€. And he ordered that his agents be allowed to carry weapons and not have to identify themselves. The order collides with the protocol. Who should private security pay attention to to avoid the scenes of tension that are taking place?
The police sources consulted agree that civil guards can enter official buildings armed if they are on business, which includes access to the Civil Guard office in the ministry. But in no case can the agent travel with his weapon through the corridors of the complex, go for a coffee or get a haircut, situations that are occurring. The same sources refer to the obligation that police officers in Congress have to leave their weapons at the Lower House police station.
