what is Guardia civil? what does the prince do for them?
http://www.guardiacivil.org/historia/history.jsp
The Guardia Civil was the first public security force to be created at a national level in Spain. It was established right after the beginning of reign of the Queen Elisabeth II and it was fostered by the moderate government of Gonzalez Bravo in consensus with the other political forces. They understood that the liberal Spanish State needed a public security force to carry out their tasks in all the inland Spanish territory in order to combat the alarming lawlessness in the roads and lands of the country due to the activities of bandits since the War of Independence.
The Force was established by means of the of 28th March and 13th May 1844 Royal Decrees, setting up a public security force of military nature, depending on the Ministry of Interior for its operational activities and on the Ministry of Defence in regards to its organisation, discipline, personnel, equipment and salaries. Keeping a broad organisational autonomy, this Force was centralised at the General Headquarters (called Dirección General or Inspección General depending on the period).
The Duke of Ahumada was appointed to organise this new Institution. He was a close collaborator of General Narvaez, a conservative and reputable military man, with a deep knowledge of the Spanish reality and the "inheritor" of the first security project with nation-wide scope designed in 1824 by his father, the Marquis of Amarillas. He took as a model the pattern set in France by the Gendarmerie and in Catalonia by the existing Mossos de Escuadra. The Duke of Ahumada personally shaped this new force, endowing it with strict regulations and its famous Code of Practice (Cartilla). This document established the character of the Guardia Civil: strong discipline, sense of sacrifice, meritorious spirit and loyalty. These features provided it with great effectiveness when implementing the tasks entrusted to it. As a consequence, the subsequent governments relied totally on it and the Force was consolidated and later implemented in the overseas colonies and from 1874 to 1940 it had the exclusive control of the public order. Furthermore, its presence in all sort of humanitarian operations, respect for honour and strictness when implementing its services soon led it to earn the respect and admiration of Spanish people. It was popularly referred to as "Benemérita" (this title was officially adopted by means of the General Order of 4th October, 1929).
The Duke of Ahumada planned the deployment of the personnel in twelve inland regional commands (Tercios) and an insular one (the Force was not represented in the Canary Islands until July, 1898). The territorial enlargement took place by phases, being the provincial level covered in 1846, the district level in 1851 and the municipal level in the Twentieth Century following the main communication lines. Meanwhile, there was a gradual manpower increase, from 3,250 men in 1844 to over 19,000 by the turn of the century and currently it consists of approximately 70,000 men and women. The Post (puesto) is the smallest unit of the Guardia Civil and it is followed in increasing order of size, by Lines (líneas), Companies (compañías), Provincial Commands (Comandancias), Regional Commads (Tercios) and Zones (Zonas), the latter being included by the Order in Council of 20th May, 1926).
The service was under the command of civil authorities, except in wartime or when the public order was in jeopardy, in which cases it was governed by the Army authorities.
This dual dependence of the Guardia Civil was the reason of jurisdiction conflicts since its very inception. The 1st July, 1871 amendment strengthened the military nature of the institution and the Provincial Command was consolidated as the link between the General Headquarters and the Posts, to the detriment of the Regional Command. During the First Republic, there was an attempt to change this dual dependence. Attempts were made the Guardia Civil depend exclusively on the Ministry of Interior (Form Letter 1 5-IV.1873), but this initiative failed upon the arrival of the Restoration and the military administration was reinforced which led the Guardia Civil to become a part of the Army for the first time (Acts of 29-XI-1878, 19-VII-1889). General Franco ratified this integration right after the end of the Civil War (Act of 13-5-1940).
This character of permanent armed force conferred on the Guardia Civil a wide autonomy in implementing its tasks, but, on the other hand it also gave rise to an abusive interpretation of the public order concept by the political class in power during the Restoration. Due to this, the prestige of the Guardia Civil, solidly established during the Nineteenth Century, was seriously damaged, to the extent that, in 1931, some left wing parties asked for its dissolution. This did not happen, but during the Second Republic, the Guardia Civil was split from the Ministry of Defence and was included in the Ministry of Interior. At the beginning of the Civil War, the Force was transformed into the National Republican Guard (Decree 30-VIII-1936). After the civil struggle, the Guardia Civil took over the functions of the Carabinieri Force (Act of 15-3-1940), while the influence of the Army became increasingly stronger with the establishment of the General Staff. Under the auspices of the democracy, the Institution was provided with new regulations according to the Constitution (Basic Law for the Security Forces and Bodies of 2-1986).
The Force was created with the mission of protecting "people and properties within and outside urban settlements" and always assumed all tasks related to public order protection. As its efficiency become apparent, the Guardia Civil was increasingly assigned with more responsibilities; functions as crime investigation police, customs police, public assistance, rural protection (specifically assumed by means of the 7th July, 1876 Act ) and military police. There has been no campaign in Spain since 1844 in which the units of the Guardia Civil did not take part, having sometimes a very relevant role, as in the Civil War.
The service was carried out by the innovative method of teams of two officers (parejas) as established in its famous Code of Practice. These teams composed of two officers were responsible for patrolling and monitoring the territory under the jurisdiction of their Post through a comprehensive knowledge of the land and its people. Since its very beginning the Guardia Civil also carried out the policing of roads, adapting its work to the changing times. Therefore, the massive outpouring of cars onto Spanish roads required an organisational action that led to the creation of the Traffic Grouping in 1959. This specialisation was the forerunner of many others that the Guardia Civil currently has for the protection and assistance to people and environment.
Throughout its long history, the Guardia Civil has played an important role
in combatting general as well as organised crime, obtaining in most cases remarkable results. This is shown by the fact that they put an end to the Nineteenth Century banditry, the "black hand" anarchy, urban anarchy, the maquis phenomenon in post-war times, as well as its remarkable success in fighting the independence aimed terrorism of ETA, like, for example, the dismantling of its leadership in the French town of Bidart. In addition to this, the Guardia Civil currently renders important services in peacekeeping missions in countries where the United Nations Organisation enlists the Spanish presence.
After 150 years of existence, the Guardia Civil is one of the most appreciated Spanish heritages, very closely linked to the Spanish people, who have seen reflected on the Guardia Civil most of their distinguishing marks. It is also an Institution that intends to serve its citizens adapting itself to the modernity of this new era, at the same time that it is required to preserve the traditional virtues that have distinguished its daily work during the last 150 years.
How nice to see the two "Felipe's" together 
