Well, first and foremost they are not the Military Police. The OP seems to use that terminology for a hyperbolic effect, I find this attitude very frustrating g

Well, first and foremost they are not the Military Police. The OP seems to use that terminology for a hyperbolic effect, I find this attitude very frustrating giving the sensitive aspect of the situation in Catalonia. Secondly, they are not part of the Army, they are self-described as a "full bodied police force" [1] and they report directly to the Ministry of Interior and only report to Defense in case they take part in a armed forces mission (article 9b of this law: [2]), which is seldom the case. Like I said they do have a military-style rank structure, which they describe as for "efficiency for performing our duties" or "military nature" [1] as they were created as an infantry division back two centuries ago. [1] http://www.guardiacivil.es/en/institucional/Conocenos/idcorporativa/naturalezami/index.html http://www.guardiacivil.es/en/institucional/Conocenos/idcorp... [2] http://noticias.juridicas.com/base_datos/Admin/lo2-1986.t2.html http://noticias.juridicas.com/base_datos/Admin/lo2-1986.t2.h...