The National Security Structure in Spain

Absztrakt

There has been crisis management and critical infrastructure protection within the Spanish government since the 1990s, but in the wake of the new challenges, a National Security Office (Departamento de Seguridad Nacional) was established in the Prime Minister's Office in 2012, to coordinate the national security activity of the government institutions at the highest possible political level.
The Spanish government issued a National Security Strategy in 2011 for the first time, followed by the second in 2013, and by the third, current strategy in December 2017. In addition to the National Security Strategy, the Cyber Security Strategy (2013), the Maritime Security Strategy (2013) and the Energy Security Strategy (2015) were created as separate documents under the coordination of the National Security Office.
The Spanish National Security Strategy of 2013 launched a new National Security System in which the Prime Minister is responsible for the management, direction and promotion of the national security policy. In 2013, the National Security Council (Consejo de Seguridad Nacional) was set up with the participation of the Deputy Prime Minister, the relevant State Secretaries, the Director of the Prime Minister’s Office and the heads of the military, law enforcement and intelligence agencies. The Council has met 15 times since its creation. In 2015 the National Security Act codified the structure and it obliges the government to report on the implementation of the national security strategy annually and to renew the national security strategy every five years.
Special committees have been established to support the National Security Council in specific areas of National Security Strategy. These committees are activated in situations where the coordination of various agencies of the Public Administration are necessary, therefore they comprise the appropriate public authorities and private agents when required.