The Civil Guard is once again paying with lives for the decisions of Pedro Sánchez's government

The Civil Guard, one of Spain's most highly regarded institutions, is once again experiencing a day of mourning for its officers and their families.

The favors of the left to drug trafficking and their bloody result for the Spanish Civil Guard
Sánchez ordered official mourning for a French socialist but not for two civil guards

Two Civil Guard officers were killed while chasing drug traffickers

At 13:06 CET, the Civil Guard announced: "We regret the death in the line of duty of our colleague Germán following a collision between two vessels of the Civil Guard Maritime Service while pursuing a drug-running speedboat off the coast of Huelva. During the operation, in addition to the deceased, two members of the Corps were seriously injured and one slightly injured. We wish them a speedy recovery."

At 4:05 PM CET, the Civil Guard announced: "We regret to announce the death of our colleague, Captain Jerónimo, who was seriously injured in the collision that occurred this morning off the coast of Huelva between two maritime service vessels while pursuing a drug-running speedboat. Another Civil Guard officer also died in the incident, and two other officers remain injured. We extend our deepest condolences to their families, friends, and colleagues. We wish the injured a speedy recovery."

The murder of two Civil Guard officers by drug traffickers in February 2024

Two years ago, drug traffickers murdered two Civil Guard officers in the same region, a crime that highlighted the lack of resources in the fight against drug trafficking and inexplicable decisions such as the dissolution of OCON-Sur, an elite anti-drug unit. The drug trafficking unit, comprised of 150 Civil Guard officers and operating in the Campo de Gibraltar region, where the two officers were murdered, has faced criticism. Despite this criticism, the government did not even declare official mourning for the slain Civil Guard officers.

The government's refusal to recognize the Civil Guard as a high-risk profession

To this must be added the refusal of the Sánchez government for years to recognize national police officers and civil guards as a high-risk profession, a recognition that is enjoyed by artists and local and regional police officers, among other professions. A few weeks ago the government gave in, but to this day national police officers and civil guards still do not have that recognition.

“The Administration had the warnings on the table. It ignored them”

A few minutes ago, the Unified Association of Civil Guards (AUGC) denounced: "Two Civil Guards killed and two wounded in a maritime operation off the coast of Huelva. The Administration had the warnings on the table. They ignored them. Our colleagues are once again paying with their lives for the lack of resources and inaction against drug trafficking."

In a statement published on its website, the AUGC points out: "The operation began at 08:00 hours. A semi-rigid boat and the interceptor vessel «Río Antas», the sixth unit of the HS60 model built by the Galician shipyard Aister and delivered to the Maritime Service of the Civil Guard in December 2025, were intercepting a drug-running boat between 60 and 80 miles off the coast of Huelva, in waters between Punta Umbría and Mazagón. The collision between two of the boats during the pursuit has cost the lives of two officers and left two others out of commission.

The AUGC adds: "The «Río Antas» is one of the most capable vessels in the SEMAR fleet: 18 meters in length, with a top speed of over 60 knots. It was only five months old. That a tragedy of this magnitude could occur even with such resources says more about the conditions of the operational environment than about the vessel's equipment." The AUGC adds: "This is not an unforeseen accident. It is the direct consequence of a documented risk situation, analyzed and formally reported to the Administration, which chose not to act."

The requests of the Civil Guard officers that were ignored by the Administration

The aforementioned association of Civil Guards states that it made four specific requests to the Occupational Risk Prevention Commission, which included a "specific assessment of the occupational risk derived from maritime interventions against drug trafficking," a "minimum complement of four personnel per unit in missions with the possibility of boarding or physical contact with hostile crews," the "restriction of the use of unprotected semi-rigid boats to non-hostile surveillance functions, with equipment such as night vision devices, cabins or screens for physical protection and non-lethal deterrents," and the "revision of the activation procedure for HS60 type fast boats, so that it can be immediate and decentralized in operational emergency situations."

The AUGC denounces that "the Administration responded that the decision on whether an unprotected vessel should confront an armed drug-running speedboat rests with the officer already dealing with the problem. No protocol. No adequate equipment. No prior support of any kind. That is the level of the institutional response to the AUGC's warnings". The AUGC also recalls that in April the Interior Committee of the Congress of Deputies approved a non-binding resolution to equip the SEMAR (Spanish Maritime Service) with non-lethal weapons, with 19 votes in favor (those of the PP, Vox, UPN, and PNV) and 18 against (PSOE, Sumar, Junts, Bildu, and ERC). The AUGC adds: "A parliamentary mandate. Without development. Without implementation. Without a real operational response on the ground. Today, that void has a concrete cost: two officers dead and two hospitalized in serious condition."

Just yesterday, a drug trafficker publicly threatened the Civil Guard with more deaths

This association of Civil Guard officers also commented on the situation in that area: "Drug trafficking didn't choose Huelva by chance. The increasing police pressure in the Campo de Gibraltar pushed criminal organizations westward, consolidating the Huelva coast as one of the main entry points for drugs into Europe. The Huelva Command operates with nearly 300 fewer officers than it should have, a deficit of close to 20% of its theoretical staff. It has half the number of officers specialized in anti-drug operations as the Cádiz Command. And just yesterday, a drug-running speedboat pilot publicly warned in local media that Huelva is a strategic point for drug trafficking and that there would be deaths of Civil Guard officers. He said it yesterday. Today it happened."

My deepest condolences to the families and colleagues of the Civil Guard officers who died today. Grant them, O Lord, eternal rest. Let perpetual light shine upon them. Rest in peace.