New Fiscal and Border Detachments of Civil Guard Commanders in operation

• The Detachment is composed of a sergeant and eight civil guards • Its main tasks are the control of special taxes (hydrocarbons, tobacco or alcohol), that of the borders, prevent crimes against the public treasury or prosecute crimes against piracy in terms of both intellectual and industrial property • In Zamora, Salamanca, Valladolid and Burgos there were already fiscal units either because it is a border with Portugal or because of the airport or because of the dry port • The Head of the Government thanks the Acting Colonel of the Command of the Civil Guard of Soria, who already knows that his new destiny will be

May 8, 2023.- The delegate of the Government in Castilla y León, Virginia Barcones, accompanied by the subdelegate in Soria, Miguel Latorre, and by the acting chief colonel of the Command of the Civil Guard in this province, Andrés Velarde, this morning presented the new fiscal units of the Civil Guard that have been created in the provinces of León, Ávila, Palencia, Segovia and Soria.

Until now, the Civil Guard had fiscal units in the command lines bordering Portugal, that is, in Zamora and Salamanca. There was also in Burgos, because of the dry port that is there. E igualmente había Unidad Fiscal en Valladolid para el aeropuerto de Villanubla.

In the rest of the provinces, these detachments are newly created so that each command has at least one fiscal unit. Barcones has presented it in Soria, but they have similar configuration in the rest of the provinces where they have just been created.

The unit is composed of a sergeant and eight civil guards. The first components were assigned to this position last March and began to provide service in the month of April. Its base of operations is physically located in the Command of the Civil Guard and its scope of action reaches the entire extension of the province. They depend on the Command Headquarters.

TAX RELIEF

"Grosso modo," said Baraches, "is a new Fiscal and Border Detachment whose main mission is to prevent and prosecute issues of smuggling, fraud and other illegal fiscal matters, throughout the territory of the province."

The Fiscal Service is a traditional task of the Civil Guard. The Civil Guard assumed in 1940 the functions of surveillance and repression of smuggling that until then had been exercised by the Royal Corps of Coastal and Border Carabineros since its foundation in 1829 and until its incorporation into the Benemérita.

The Organic Law of 1986, on Security Forces and Corps, establishes as a specific function of the Civil Guard the exercise of the fiscal protection of the State and the actions aimed at preventing and prosecuting smuggling.

In the case of the Soria Command, the new detachment integrates the set of capabilities that empower the Civil Guard to carry out the functions and actions of fiscal police and aimed at preventing and prosecuting smuggling and other illegal trafficking within the scope of the functions entrusted to the Civil Guard by the current regulations.

The Government delegate has specified her functions in three areas: To apply within its sphere of responsibility international, European and national legislation relating to the State’s tax protection, as well as the technical regulations of the Civil Guard in the field of customs, excise duties, smuggling and taxation in general.

Also, to act within its scope of responsibility in accordance with the legislation in force in all matters relating to border security at airports and the security of civil aviation, including light aviation and the control of unmanned aircraft.

And, thirdly, to correctly handle the technical and material means, as well as to apply the techniques that are commonly used in tax and border units.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

The structure of this specialty determines that, in general, in each of the zone headquarters or commanders there will be at least one fiscal unit. In Soria, it is concrete in the creation of this Fiscal Detachment.

Barcones wanted to make it clear that the creation of this detachment “does not mean that there is a specific problem in this province, but that they complement with this specialty and with personnel dedicated specifically to it, the services that were already provided and that were normally done from Citizen Security”.

The representative of the Government of Spain in Castilla y León has summarized the main tasks of the detachment in these terms: “In the province of Soria and in the other provinces in which they have just been created, these detachments will be dedicated mainly to the control of special taxes (hydrocarbons, tobacco or alcohol, among others), and to prevent crimes against public finances such as those carried out through VAT, in addition to prosecuting crimes against intellectual and industrial piracy. I am talking about crimes such as tobacco smuggling or fraudulent labelling of foodstuffs. I’m talking about monitoring the safety of toys, cosmetics...”

In addition, they will carry out an inspection work in all establishments linked to the regulations of their competence in collaboration with the Provincial Delegation of Finance. They will also collaborate with the Regional Administration, for example, with the Ministry of Health, in cases that require joint actions. 

ANDRES VELARDE

Barcones took advantage of his presence in Soria to “thank Colonel Andrés Velarde, present here, for his work, his dedication, his professionalism and demonstrated effectiveness at the head of the Soria Civil Guard Command”.

The government delegate has indicated that she is “fortunate that her new destination will be the headquarters of the Civil Guard Command of Valladolid. So we’ll keep seeing each other and treating each other.”

Andrés Velarde was promoted to colonel on January 31. With the ascent, he waited for a new destiny. He took office in April 2014, more than nine years ago, as head of the Soria Command. In this time, both he and the Civil Guard have received numerous distinctions in this province that are "signs of respect and appreciation of different groups for the magnificent work done", in the words of Barcones.

The delegate added that “I believe that the link that has been generated between Andrés Velarde and this province will allow us to see him here on numerous occasions. A professional but grounded link on a personal level. And this bond, generated both by him and by his family, allows me to say that at this point he is one more Soriano. A Soriano of heart and conviction.”

A good proof of his relationship with Soria is that in 2021 he published the book “La Guardia Civil. History of Soria since 1845. Quartering and relevant services”. A work complemented with a short essay, “Civil Guard of Soria. Quarterings and first services in Soria”.