Civil Guard, Civil Protection, and Electrical Principles in Spain
Civil Guard Responsibilities and Organization
The Civil Guard is responsible for maintaining public order and safety in Spain. Common faults include abuse of authority and failure to provide urgent relief.
Secretary of State for Security
The Secretary of State for Security provides direct cooperation and assistance to the Minister of the Interior. The Superior Council of the Civil Guard is a consultative body.
Exception: Within detention, the maximum time is 72 hours, as per AS 4/88. For terrorists and armed bands, it can be up to 5 days.
Civil Guard Ranks
The Civil Guard is divided into three military branches:
- General Officers: General, Division General, Brigade General
- Officers: Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel, Major, Captain, Lieutenant, Ensign (GA)
- Non-Commissioned Officers: Sergeant Major, Lieutenant, Brigade, 1st Sergeant, Sergeant (UK)
- Corporals and Guards: Chief Corporal, Corporal 1st Class, Corporal, Civil Guard
Group Classification
- Group A: From General to Lieutenant
- Group B: From Ensign and Sergeant Major to Sergeant
- Group C: From Chief Corporal to Civil Guard
Civil Protection in Spain
Competencies
Civil protection is primarily the responsibility of the state’s civil administration and the government. Security forces participate as needed.
Citizen Participation
Citizens of legal age may be required to work, especially the unemployed, to provide social services or replace military personnel.
Role of the Armed Forces
The Armed Forces can provide internal assistance if requested to defend and assist their personnel as necessary.
Government Responsibilities
The government catalogs sports activities that may pose a risk and establishes basic guidelines, including a proposed internal warning system, after a report from the Civil Protection Commission.
Autonomous Communities and Local Authorities
Autonomous Communities create their own special plans, and local authorities create territorial plans.
Types of Plans
- Territorial Plans: These plans cover Autonomous Communities or smaller areas. They include objectives, a director, an operational coordination center, and procedures for activating protection activities for the population, assets, and structures.
- Special Plans: These plans address specific cases, including risk identification, risk zone definition, event evaluation, and operational structure composition (e.g., floods, earthquakes, chemical emergencies, forest fires, volcanic eruptions).
- Basic Plan: This plan covers nuclear war.
Single Command
A single person is in charge. Afterward, the Government Delegate or Subdelegate may assume command in areas where there are public administrations of the state. A basic command post will be established in the emergency area.
Direction and Coordination of Situations
- Mayors (within their municipality)
- Government Delegate or Subdelegate (in a single province that is not an Autonomous Community)
- Interior Minister or a delegated person (in an Autonomous Community)
Available Resources
Resources include municipal, insular, supra-municipal, Autonomous Community, and state resources, coordinated by the Interior Ministry. All available media within their territory will be used.
National Civil Protection Commission
This commission includes representatives from the state administration, local corporations, and Autonomous Communities.
Functions
- Report on technical standards
- Develop criteria for mobilizing resources
- Coordinate bodies
- Approve plans and media
Civil Fire Protection
Functions: Saving and rescuing victims.
In case of war: Self-protection, shelters, evacuation.
Basic Electrical Principles
Electric Current: The flow of electrons through a conductor.
Electric Potential: The potential energy acquired by a positive charge at a specific point in space.
Watts: The unit of power.
Volt: The unit of electric potential, equal to Joules per Coulomb.
Amperes: The unit of current intensity, representing the quantity of charge passing through a point per second (Coulombs/second).
Attraction Force: The force that keeps electrons attracted to the nucleus’s protons.
Coulomb: The unit of electric charge, equal to 6.23 x 1018 electrons.
Voltmeter: Measures voltage and is installed in parallel.
Superconductivity: Occurs at 0 Kelvin.
Generator: A device that produces and maintains a voltage.
Output: The unit of energy produced per unit of time.
Ammeter: Measures current intensity.
Resistance: If the total intensity is 15 amps, and the voltage difference is 4 volts across a 2-amp current, the resistance is 2 ohms (R = V/I).
Current: 1 Coulomb per second produces a current of 1 Ampere.
Kirchoff’s Law: The sum of currents entering a node equals the sum of currents leaving the node.
Ohm’s Law: Current intensity is directly proportional to the potential difference and inversely proportional to the resistance (I = V/R).
Ohms: Volts/Amperes. For example, an iron with a resistance of 120V and 5A has a resistance of 24 Ohms (120/5 = 24).
Joule: The energy consumed in a circuit in one second.