Spain scraps height requirements for Guardia Civil police officers

Spain's Official State Gazette (BOE) has published the regulation that eliminates the general height limits previously set to become a Guardia Civil police officer. The amendment puts an end to the exclusion of men under 1.60 metres tall and women under 1.55 metres, as well as those who are taller than 2.03 metres.

In October 2022, the Spanish government approved the new regulations on selective processes for the National Police, eliminating the minimum height requirement, as part of the Ministry of the Interior's policy to favour the recruitment of women to reach 40% of the State Security Forces and Corps staff by 2030.

In the National Police force, the minimum height requirement of 160 centimetres (165cm in the case of men) was abolished, as it was considered to discriminate against women as it was disproportionate to their average height. However, the height benchmark was maintained as an "essential and determining requirement" for posts in certain units.

At the time, the Guardia Civil announced that it was working on its own measures for the promotion of women, such as setting a percentage of places reserved for women in each selection process for access to the ranks, which will range from a minimum of 25% to a maximum of 40%. At present, they represent 8.75% of the staff of the force.

Last April, the Ministry of Defence also announced the elimination of height limits as of the next academic year for access to both the Armed Forces and officer ranks in the Guardia Civil.

As explained by the department headed by Margarita Robles, the modification would eliminate, in general, the height limits for access to all branches and ranks of the Armed Forces, and would also apply to the ranks in the Guardia Civil.