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The Carabineros was an armed carabiniers force of Spain under both the monarchy and the Second Republic. The formal mission of this paramilitary gendarmerie was to patrol the coasts and borders of the country, operating against fraud and smuggling. As such the Carabineros performed the dual roles of border guard and customs officials.
The force was established in 1829 and lasted until 1940 when it was summarily disbanded and merged with the Guardia Civil. Real decreto organizando el Cuerpo de Carabineros de Costas y Fronteras para impedir el contrabando, 31 de marzo de 1829 - Gaceta de Madrid nº39, p. 153 Real decreto sobre la organización de Carabineros de Costas. Instituto, organización, personal e inspección general del Cuerpo de Carabineros de Costas y Fronteras. 2 de abril de 1829 - Gaceta de Madrid nº40, p. 157
Their uniform was dark blue with red facingsPlate XVIII, "Spagna", Rivista Militare Europea 1986 until the 1920s and thereafter Gray-green.
At the time of the Restoration the Carabineros and the Guardia Civil, the other paramilitary Spanish corps, were placed under the War Ministry, "for a better organization and discipline", being given a military character by means of a law Ley Adicional a la Constitutiva del Ejército de 19 de julio de 1889] that developed and modified certain aspects of the 1878 Constitutive Army Law (Ley Constitutiva del Ejército). The latter set the functions of the Armed Forces following the Spanish Constitution of 1876. Ramón Gómez Martínez, El Estatuto Jurídico-Constitucional del militar de carrera en España. Antecedentes, fundamento y situación actual. Tesis doctoral. 2008 Universidad de Granada. Facultad de Derecho, P. 111-114
In August 1923 Lieutenant General José Olaguer Feliú was named General Director of the Carabineros. Real decreto nombrando Director General de Carabineros al Teniente General D. José Olaguer-Feliu y Ramírez. "Gaceta de Madrid". Núm 209. 28 de julio de 1923, pp. 328 Despite this being a time of economic hardship, he was able to improve conditions of service within the corps; reducing the daily working hours to twelve. He also achieved the expansion and improvement of the Carabinier Corps' Schools (Colegios del Cuerpo de Carabineros), where recruits were trained. General Olaguer Feliu was responsible for the construction of new quarters and repairing the existing ones; for the founding of schools for the sons and daughters of the Carabineros in certain locations. Finally José Olaguer Feliú provided better schooling and conditions for orphans of Carabineros at the San Lorenzo de El Escorial Carabinier' Orphans School (Colegio de Huérfanos de Carabineros de San Lorenzo del Escorial).
In 1929, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the corps, a monument was built in recognition of the Carabineros, at San Lorenzo del Escorial. In addition the Great Cross of the Civil Order of Beneficence (Gran Cruz de la Orden Civil de Beneficencia) was awarded collectively to the members of the corps by King Alfonso XIII for deeds and services rendered by the Carabineros in fighting fires, floods and the rescuing of shipwrecked persons. Real decreto concediendo al Cuerpo de Carabineros la Gran Cruz de la Orden civil de Beneficencia, con distantivo negro y blanco, p. 1674, 10 de septiembre 1929 - Gaceta de Madrid nº253
As a professional force of generally proven loyalty to the Republic, the carabineros formed an elite unit, which was integrated into the mixed brigades of the Republican Army.Carlos Engel (1999); Historia de las Brigadas Mixtas del Ejército Popular de la República, p. 194, 221 and 225 The Carabinier corps was increased in strength to 40,000 men. The initiative for this restructuring was taken by the then Finance Minister Juan Negrín.Hugh Thomas (1976); La Guerra civil española, Ed. Grijalbo, p. 594 (Spanish translation)
Numbers of loyalist carabineros taken prisoner by the Army of Africa in August 1936 were executed in Badajoz.
Nine years after the end of Franco's dictatorship the Spanish Law 37/1984 of 22 October 1984 recognized the rights and services of those who had been part of the Armed Forces, Police and Carabiniers of the Spanish Republic (Reconocimiento de derechos y servicios prestados a quienes durante la Guerra Civil formaron parte de las Fuerzas Armadas, Fuerzas de Orden Público y Cuerpo de Carabineros de la República). This law gave back to the surviving members of the corps some of the rights and recognition of which they had been deprived in 1940. Ley 37/1984, de 22 de octubre, de reconocimiento de derechos y servicios prestados a quienes durante la guerra civil formaron parte de las Fuerzas Armadas, Fuerzas de Orden Público y Cuerpo de Carabineros de la República. "B.O.E. (Boletín Oficial del Estado del Gobierno de España)". Núm. 262. 1 de noviembre de 1984, pp. 31689 a 31690
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