Skip to main content

Local police. Members. By rank. Counties and Aran, and areas

Local police. Members. By rank. Counties and Aran, and areas 2021
Superintendent Major intendent Intendent Inspector Subinspector Sergeant Corporal Officer Total
Alt Camp 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 26 32
Alt Empordà 0 0 0 4 3 10 29 159 205
Alt Penedès 0 0 0 1 3 8 17 83 112
Alt Urgell 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 13 17
Alta Ribagorça 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Anoia 0 0 0 1 0 4 21 101 127
Aran 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Bages 0 0 0 0 1 8 22 176 207
Baix Camp 0 0 0 1 6 12 39 211 269
Baix Ebre 0 0 0 1 1 8 16 105 131
Baix Empordà 0 0 0 4 8 13 41 227 293
Baix Llobregat 0 0 1 17 17 54 157 919 1,165
Baix Penedès 0 0 0 2 2 10 26 163 203
Barcelonès 1 9 23 24 44 110 316 3,323 3,850
Berguedà 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 19 21
Cerdanya 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 9 11
Conca de Barberà 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 15 17
Garraf 0 0 0 3 1 12 34 196 246
Garrigues 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 9 10
Garrotxa 0 0 0 0 1 3 8 34 46
Gironès 0 0 2 2 5 12 25 206 252
Maresme 0 1 1 10 7 33 97 638 787
Moianès 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 5
Montsià 0 0 0 1 2 3 12 95 113
Noguera 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 13
Osona 0 0 0 3 1 7 15 112 138
Pallars Jussà 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 5
Pallars Sobirà 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Pla d'Urgell 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 15 21
Pla de l'Estany 0 0 0 1 0 1 4 22 28
Priorat 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ribera d'Ebre 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ripollès 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 18 22
Segarra 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 8 10
Segrià 0 0 1 2 2 12 23 189 229
Selva 0 0 0 3 4 11 33 244 295
Solsonès 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 12 13
Tarragonès 0 1 0 2 7 19 52 378 459
Terra Alta 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Urgell 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 21 25
Vallès Occidental 0 2 2 13 20 34 159 914 1,144
Vallès Oriental 0 0 0 13 7 23 105 498 646
Catalonia 1 13 30 108 146 413 1,276 9,180 11,167
Metropolità 1 12 27 77 95 254 834 6,292 7,592
Comarques Gironines 0 0 2 14 22 50 143 910 1,141
Camp de Tarragona 0 1 0 3 14 33 96 630 777
Terres de l'Ebre 0 0 0 2 3 11 28 200 244
Ponent 0 0 1 2 3 15 32 255 308
Comarques Centrals 0 0 0 3 2 16 39 324 384
Alt Pirineu i Aran 0 0 0 0 1 0 6 26 33
Penedès 0 0 0 7 6 34 98 543 688
Source: Ministry of Home Affairs.

Last update: July 6, 2022.

Methodological note

Definition of concepts

Local police
Police force that forms part of a council under the higher management of a mayor and that is responsible for vigilance and control of urban traffic and compliance with municipal orders and regulations. Can only act in the territory of its own municipality, but for reasons of exceptional emergency may be called upon to serve in bordering municipalities. Their functions include protecting the authorities, buildings, facilities and dependencies of the local corporation; regulating urban traffic; acting as administrative police in municipal competences and environmental regulations; overseeing public security and order; acting as community police in neighbourhood coexistence and in local public services, and acting as judicial police.

Methodological aspects

The Spanish Constitution (article 148.1.22) and the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia (article 164) grant the Generalitat de Catalunya (Generalitat) powers for the planning and regulation of public order and the organization of local law-enforcement. This responsibility is developed by Law 16/1991 of local law-enforcement agencies of Catalonia.

This legal framework establishes that all settlements with over 10,000 inhabitants shall have the power, but not the obligation, to create a local police force. At present, all towns with this level of population have a local police force, as well as some with lower population through special authorization from the Ministy of Home Affairs.

The jurisdiction of the local police force is restricted to the area of their municipality. They may only act outside this area in emergencies or with prior authorization from the relevant authorities, and must report any such actions to the Ministry responsible for public order.

Each police force is separate and under the authority of the mayor or mayoress, although it takes its orders from the commanding officer, who is the officer of highest rank.

The model for territorial distribution of the police force of the Generalitat of Catalonia is extra-municipal, in county-wide forces subordinate to regional police authorities. This arrangement makes it possible to concentrate some services in the main towns of Catalonia and extend them to the rest of the country from there.

This distribution has resulted in a model of police forces that varies according to the municipality. Some municipalities have both local police forces and Generalitat police forces, while others have only local police or only those of the Generalitat, while others have no police station at all, with law enforcement provided by the Generalitat through the closest police station.

From 2010, the figures refer to actual members of the force, and not to potential numbers.

Unavailable information is represented using the symbol ":". When the value is lower than that of the minimum unit to be able to estimate the statistical operation or if it effects statistical confidentiality, the symbol used is "..".