Ministry of the Interior (Spain)

The Ministry of the Interior (MIR) is a department of the Government of Spain responsible for public security, the protection of the constitutional rights, the command of the law enforcement agencies, national security, immigration affairs, prisons, civil defense and road traffic safety. Through the Undersecretariat of the Interior and its superior body, the Directorate-General for Internal Policy, the Ministry is responsible for all actions related to ensuring political pluralism and the proper functioning of electoral processes.

The MIR, which was created for the first time by the Cortes of Cádiz in 1812, has its central headquarters since the 1970s in the Palace of the Counts of Casa Valencia, located at the Paseo de la Castellana. Likewise, the rest of the services are distributed between the buildings adjacent to this palace, which are also owned by the Department, and other headquarters spread throughout the city of Madrid.

This department has historically received numerous denominations such as Ministerio de la Gobernación (literally Ministry of the Governance or Ministry of Government), Ministerio de Orden Público (Ministry of Public Order) and Ministerio del Interior y Justicia (Ministry of the Interior and Justice) when both ministries joint in one.

As of 2023, central, regional and local governments in Spain spend around €27.4 billion per year (1.8% of GDP) on security and public order. Furthermore, according to the Crime Balance for the fourth quarter of 2024, the conventional crime rate in Spain stood at 41 cases per thousand inhabitants, 0.3 points less than in 2023, while the cybercrime rate stood at 9.6 cases per thousand inhabitants.