The first female chief of the Barcelona Metropolitan Police Region

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Video featuring Commissioner Marta Fernàndez.

Commissioner Marta Fernández joined the force in 1991 and has occupied the highest-ranking position in the Barcelona Metropolitan Police Region since 2021. This is the first time that a woman has assumed command of the Mossos d’Esquadra in Barcelona.

Throughout her many years of service, she has held various positions of responsibility which, until her arrival, had always been occupied by men. Her career highlights include becoming the first woman to head up the Citizen Services Office in the Selva Interior basic police area (Santa Coloma de Farners) in 1996; taking over as chief of the Public Safety Unit in the El Baix Empordà basic police area (Sant Feliu de Guíxols) as a sergeant in 1999; and being appointed assistant chief of the latter area in 2000.

More recently, she has earned acclaim for being the first woman appointed chief of the Central Administrative Police Department, a post she held from 2010 to 2018, and for being the first woman in charge of the Mossos d’Esquadra General Commissariat of Criminal Investigation, which occurred in 2021.

Commissioner Marta Fernàndez.

Women in the Air Support Unit

The Air Support Unit carries out a wide range of actions to support other units of the force using the helicopters at its disposal. It is deployed when large crowds of people gather, broadcasting images and videos from the sky; monitors the airspace during special operations; ensures traffic safety, and trains its own members and those of other units with which it tests aerial methods.

There is one woman in this recently created unit.

Female officer from the Air Support Unit and a police helicopter.

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Video produced to commemorate Mossos d’Esquadra Day 2021.