Mossos d'Esquadra (literal English: "Boys of the Squad) is the police force of Catalonia, one of the autonomous communities of Spain. It is the oldest civil police force in Europe, founded in the 17th century to protect the people of Catalonia. Throughout the centuries it has passed back and forth from Catalan authority to Spanish military command several times. Since 1980 it has been under the authority of the Generalitat de Catalunya (Government of Catalonia) [1]. Currently, these Catalan Autonomous Police are taking the place of the Spanish Police Forces in Catalonia. This process of substitution was begun in 1994 and will be completed by 2008 [2] . The Spanish Police Forces will keep a few agents in Catalonia to handle terrorism, immigration and other limited matters [3].
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