A total of 5,412 agents of the State Security Forces will make up the device designed to guarantee the development of the Third Summit of the European Political Community and the meeting of heads of State and Government held in Granada, within the framework of the Spanish rotating presidency of the European Council.
The summit, which extends the usual forum for debate beyond the 27, will bring together heads of state and government from 52 delegations in the Andalusian city and will have the largest security deployment in recent years, only surpassed by the one carried out in Madrid in June 2022, on the occasion of the NATO summit.
“The Madrid event, which also brought together fifty delegations and focused all the eyes of the world on the capital of Spain, ended with zero incidents and zero arrests. That is our objective in Granada,” the Minister of the Interior said this Wednesday, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, during the presentation of the device, at the Congress Palace of Granada.
Grande-Marlaska has also highlighted “the high commitment, high professionalism and efficiency, and capacity for dedication” of the agents of the National Police and the Guardia Civil, characteristics that have contributed to making them today “an undisputed international reference” in the preparation and execution of large security devices”.
The critical phase
The security device that is directed from the Coordination Centre (CECOR) that Grande-Marlaska visited has the participation of all the organisations involved: the Presidency of the European Union, the Presidency of the Government, the Department of National Security, the Cybersecurity Coordination Office, the National Centre for the Protection of Critical Infrastructures, the Ministry of the Interior, the Air Force and the Junta de Andalucía. The alert phase began last Saturday, September 30, and the critical phase was activated on Wednesday.
The National Police will be in charge of external security for the venues that will host the delegations and the summit activities: the Congress Palace, the Parador de Granada and the Alhambra. Likewise, it will assume the protection of a part of these delegations during their transfers from the airport.
3,670 National Police agents will participate in security tasks distributed in the following units and specialties: Central Protection Unit (Escort Brigade and Special Protection Brigade); General Information Commissioner; General Commissariat of Immigration and Borders; Police Intervention Units (UIP); Prevention and Reaction Units (UPR); Cavalry Unit; Canine Guides; Subsoil; Explosives Disposal (TEDAX); Helicopters; Drones; and Special Systems
For its part, the Guardia Civil will deploy 1,382 agents who will be in charge of protecting and guiding mobility devices during road trips by the authorities from the airports of Malaga and Granada to the summit headquarters, as well as trips within from the capital of Granada of the majority of the delegations.
The participating units will be the Traffic Group; Prosecutor and Border Units; Rural Security Group; Rapid Action Group; Information service; Cynological service; Subsoil; Helicopter Unit; Maritime Service; Nature Protection Service (SEPRONA); and Explosives Deactivation Service (SEDEX)
The 360 troops that the Local Police and Emergencies of Granada will deploy will collaborate with the National Police and the Guardia Civil in the protection and coverage of the urban routes used by those attending this summit and the subsequent meeting.
Cybersecurity
The device also includes specific protection plans, among which the Cybersecurity Plan stands out, aimed at coordination, surveillance, protection and response to possible cybersecurity incidents; and the Critical Infrastructure Protection Plan, focused on the spaces that host an activity within the program or that provide an essential service to the development of the summit.
Grande-Marlaska has highlighted the “excellent coordination” that has existed between the different administrations and organisations involved throughout the process of preparing this device.
“Without institutional cooperation and loyalty it would not have been possible to carry out a security deployment of such complexity,” he noted during his speech in Granada.
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