Madrid armors itself for the NATO Summit: more than 10,000 police and civil guards to protect more than 40 delegations

There are barely 12 days left for Madrid to host what will be one of the most important events in recent times: the NATO Summit which will define the organization’s roadmap for the next decade. That is why the Government is already immersed in the latest preparations to shield the capital with more than 10,000 agents from the State Security Forces and Bodies who will be in charge of protecting the smooth running of the event, which will take place on June 29 and 30, and the security of the more than 40 international delegations that will attend.

Delegations will be headed by 40 heads of State and governments of the allied countries and other invited nations. Thus, in a few days, Madrid will receive presidents such as the American Joe Biden or the French Emmanuel Macron, the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, or the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. All this is in the context of the war in Ukraine, which makes this Madrid Summit one of the most important in memory due to this complex international context that has once again put NATO in the eye of the hurricane. The event, in addition, could be the scene of a new expansion of the organization.

Security in those days, therefore, is a real challenge for Spain. According to data from the Ministry of the Interior, 6,500 national police and 2,400 civil guards will be deployed in the capital. To these figures must be added the “at least” 1,200 municipal police officers, as confirmed by the Madrid City Council. The security of the Casa Real will also participate in the security of the act -which will be in charge of monitoring the Granja de San Ildefonso, in Segovia, which will host some of the acts- and the private agents of Ifema, where the bulk of the Summit will take place. The one who stays out of the device is the Army.

The National Police will also put into operation a surveillance system to prevent the presence of drones, although sources from the ministry led by Fernando Grande-Marlaska avoid confirming whether, as was done in the proclamation of King Felipe VI in 2014, the airspace will be closed. . Likewise, the Executive has also been concerned about cyber security, since the CNI wants to prevent any hacking from taking place. Asked if Russia could be behind the attempted attacks, Interior sources do not rule out any scenario, but assure that “all measures have been taken to detect, prevent and stop any attack wherever it comes from”.

“Our great objective is to make this Summit a great success and achieve a great projection for the country “, add sources from the Presidency, who assure that all the preparatory work for it -which began in October of last year and has been gaining entity as the date approached – has been supervised “personally” by the chief executive, Pedro Sánchez. “We are in a position to ensure that the operation will guarantee security and the Summit will be able to be held in a framework of peace “, highlight other Interior sources, who also add that for the time being an increase in the level of anti-terrorist alert has been ruled out since is located at a high level (4).

More than 40 invited delegations

If the number of agents is high, the number of delegations is not far behind, since more than 40 will attend Madrid on the 29th and 30th -it is estimated that they will begin to arrive from the 27th-. That number includes the 30 countries that are part of the Atlantic Alliance -it is expected that one of the largest delegations will be that of the United States, a country with which the Interior is holding bilateral meetings-, but also the one headed by the secretary general of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, and those of Sweden and Finland, invited countries that intend to join the Alliance.

The commission from four Asian countries, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea will also attend; that of the two European institutions, the Commission and the Council; and other European Union countries that are not part of NATO, Malta, Ireland, Cyprus, and Austria. In addition, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has also been invited, since the invasion of his country by Russia will have a great role in the event. It has not yet been confirmed whether the Ukrainian president will attend, but in any case, he could intervene telematically.

Thus, there will be more than 2,000 delegates, to which will be added another 2,000 accredited journalists and another 1,000 people attending and organizing. The cost of the Summit will be more than 30 million euros.

Bilaterals and two full meetings

As Moncloa explains, the “bulk” of the Summit will begin on Tuesday 28. First, Sánchez will visit the Ifema facilities with Stoltenberg – this visit could be brought forward to Monday – and, later, the president will hold a series of bilateral meetings in Moncloa with heads of state whose names have not yet been specified. At night, King Felipe VI will offer a dinner at the Palacio de la Zarzuela.

On Wednesday the 29th, the delegations will arrive at the fairgrounds first thing in the morning to hold a meeting in which, initially, the allies will be present, and then the invited countries will enter. In parallel, Queen Letizia will preside over the so-called “companion program”, which will include different activities for the couples of the presidents of the countries. On Wednesday, the dinner will be at the Prado Museum and will be chaired by Sánchez himself. On Thursday the 30th, NATO will hold a second summit, which after the end will give way to press conferences by the Secretary-General and representatives of all countries.

An almost impassable city

The direct consequence of holding the Summit is that Madrid will become an almost impassable city. At the moment, neither the Interior nor the Presidency nor the Madrid City Council has specified the effects on traffic that will occur during that week. However, sources from the Ministry led by Marlaska, in addition to highlighting the “good collaboration” with the local and regional administration, do point out that despite the fact that the security plan “is aimed at minimizing the effects on the lives of the people of Madrid, they will be some intense days”.

For this reason, they will ask citizens to avoid private transport on those days and, companies, to bet on teleworking. However, they point out that the residents of Madrid “know the importance of the Summit and the very positive image that Spain can project”.