The Spanish Ministry of the Interior today announced that Lieutenant Colonel David Blanes will replace Diego Pérez de los Cobos as head of the Civil Guard Command in Madrid. The Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, removed Pérez de los Cobos last week and, as it is now known, has requested a vacant post at the Central Intervention of Weapons and Explosives in Madrid which has been awarded by the Government.

According to the Civil Guard sources cited by the Public Journal, it has not been an easy task to find a substitute for De los Cobos, arrested in Barcelona. In particular, nine days have passed by calling several colonels and all of them have refused to accept the offer of charges, so they have had to elect a lieutenant colonel. During this Tuesday’s monitoring session with the government, Grande-Marlaska explained that Pérez de los Cobos’ departure was due to an alleged crime of leakage of secrets.

Internal conflicts

The Spanish Ministry of the Interior removed the colonel from the office of the Madrid Command for alleged "lack of loyalty" and "lack of knowledge of the development of the investigations and activities of the Civil Guard". This is the reserved document on the cessation signed on 24 May by the Director General of the Civil Guard, María GÁMEZ. Grande-Marlaska, who initially attributed the substitution to a principle of "group change", pointed out that this was a separate issue from the report of the Cobos Command on the 8M demonstration, but this week linked the cessation to the "filtration" of the report in the Senate. The opposition of the Spanish right has asked him to resign "immediately" in the United Kingdom.

Curriculum

Moncloa has reported that Blanes has so far been responsible for the Tax Unit and the Airports of the Madrid Command. He has also worked in the Royal House Security Unit and in the Technical Office of the General Directorate of the Civil Guard. Blanes has also traveled all over Euskal Herria. After graduating from the General Military Academy of Zaragoza in 1991, he was appointed to the Command of the Civil Guard of Álava, specifically in the headquarters of Laguardia and Labastida.