Police organisation
Policia de la Generalitat - Mossos d’Esquadra
The police of Catalonia, belonging to the Generalitat rather than to the Spanish state administration — the second instance of Spain’s autonomous-community tier published here.
At a glance
- Official name
- Policia de la Generalitat - Mossos d’Esquadra
- System
- Spain
- Level of government
- Regional
- Kind of body
- Regional police force
- Status
- Currently operating
- Official website
- https://mossos.gencat.cat/ — confirmed against the organisation’s own pages on 13 September 2026.
- Facts last checked against sources
- 13 September 2026
What it is
The Mossos d’Esquadra are the police force of the Generalitat de Catalunya. Like the Ertzaintza in the Basque Country, they exist because Ley Orgánica 2/1986 lets an autonomous community whose statute so provides create its own force — and like the Ertzaintza they answer to that community’s government, not to the Ministry of the Interior. Two communities, two forces, and most of Spain with neither: the tier exists where a statute put it.
What it covers
Catalonia.
Broad responsibilities
- Policing Catalonia as the force of the Generalitat
- In the force’s own words, working "per a la comunitat, oferint un servei de qualitat, basat en la proximitat i la responsabilitat, la professionalitat i l’eficiència"
Who it answers to
Within the Generalitat de Catalunya.
Elsewhere on this site
- Who polices what — how Spain is structured, against other systems
Other organisations to compare
- Ertzaintza — Spain
- Policía Nacional — Spain
- Guardia Civil — Spain
Where this connects
Institutions: Municipal police.
Sources
Els Mossos d’Esquadra — Policia de la Generalitat
Generalitat de Catalunya · Institutional (self-description) · link verified 2026-09-13
SCOPE: the Mossos d’Esquadra only. The force’s own site on the Generalitat domain, read directly. Supports the official name "Policia de la Generalitat - Mossos d’Esquadra"; that it belongs to the Generalitat de Catalunya rather than to the Spanish state administration; that it polices Catalonia; and its own statement of mission, to work "per a la comunitat, oferint un servei de qualitat, basat en la proximitat i la responsabilitat, la professionalitat i l’eficiència". Establishes nothing about the Ertzaintza, the Policía Foral or the state security forces.
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.