Police organisation
Ertzaintza
The police of the Basque Autonomous Community, within the Basque Government’s Security Department — an instance of Spain’s second policing tier.
At a glance
- Official name
- Ertzaintza
- System
- Spain
- Level of government
- Regional
- Kind of body
- Regional police force
- Status
- Currently operating
- Official website
- https://www.ertzaintza.euskadi.eus/ — confirmed against the organisation’s own pages on 13 September 2026.
- Facts last checked against sources
- 13 September 2026
What it is
The Ertzaintza is not a branch of a Spanish national force. It belongs to the Eusko Jaurlaritza, the Basque Government, and sits within its Segurtasun Saila (Security Department). Ley Orgánica 2/1986 provides the framework within which an autonomous community whose statute so provides creates its own force; the Ertzaintza is one of the communities that did. A reader who treats Spanish policing as two-tier will misread both this force and the system around it.
What it covers
The Basque Autonomous Community.
Broad responsibilities
- Policing of the Basque Autonomous Community, as the force of that community’s government
Who it answers to
Within the Segurtasun Saila (Security Department) of the Eusko Jaurlaritza, the Basque Government.
Elsewhere on this site
- Who polices what — how Spain is structured, against other systems
Other organisations to compare
- Policía Nacional — Spain
- Guardia Civil — Spain
Where this connects
Institutions: Municipal police.
Sources
Ertzaintza — official site (Eusko Jaurlaritza)
Ertzaintza, Segurtasun Saila, Eusko Jaurlaritza (Basque Government) · Institutional (self-description) · link verified 2026-09-13
SCOPE: the Ertzaintza only. The force’s own site, read directly. Supports the official name "Ertzaintza"; that it is the police of the Basque Autonomous Community; and that it sits within the Segurtasun Saila (Security Department) of the Eusko Jaurlaritza — the Basque Government, not the Spanish state administration. The framework under which an autonomous community may create its own force rests on es-lofcs. Establishes nothing about the Mossos d’Esquadra or about the Foral Police of Navarre.
Ley Orgánica 2/1986, de 13 de marzo, de Fuerzas y Cuerpos de Seguridad
Boletín Oficial del Estado (boe.es), BOE-A-1986-6859 · Legislation · 1986-03-13 · link verified 2026-07-26
The organic law of the security forces, read in full for the relevant articles. Supports the THREE tiers of security forces: the Fuerzas y Cuerpos de Seguridad del Estado (national), the police of the Autonomous Communities, and the local police. Names the two national forces (art. 9): 'a) El Cuerpo Nacional de Policía, que es un Instituto Armado de naturaleza civil, dependiente del Ministro del Interior. b) La Guardia Civil, que es un Instituto Armado de naturaleza militar...' — so the Guardia Civil is a militarily-organised force, not merely rural police. Provides the framework within which the Autonomous Communities that so provide in their Statutes create their own police forces.