The Mossos d'Esquadra, Catalonia's regional police, have created the Central Helicopter Unit, replacing the former Aerial Resources Unit, to carry out police work from the air across all of Catalonia. The force said the move gives it a dedicated structure for aerial policing as an "integral police" service throughout the territory.

For residents and drivers, the practical change is that helicopter operations for searches, surveillance, traffic support and emergency assistance are now being run through a single central unit with Catalonia-wide scope, rather than the previous aerial resources structure. People who need to report an incident or verify police information can use the official Mossos d'Esquadra channels.

The unit appears in the force's current staffing and organisational records published in Resolució ISP/3332/2024, of 17 September 2024, which made public the current list of posts and personnel arrangements. Mossos announced the unit in an official news item on its website.

"La Policia de la Generalitat-Mossos d'Esquadra ha creat la Unitat Central d'Helicòpters, antiga Unitat de Mitjans Aeris, per donar resposta a les funcions policials en l'àmbit aeri com a policia integral a tot el territori català," the force said in its announcement.

What the unit is responsible for

According to the Mossos information on aerial resources and air security, the force uses aircraft for police support tasks including surveillance, searches, public safety operations and coordination from the air.

The legal basis for Mossos policing functions is set out in Law 10/1994 of 11 July on the Police of the Generalitat, which establishes the force's role as Catalonia's police service. The new helicopter unit sits within that wider structure.

  • The unit replaces the former Aerial Resources Unit.
  • Its remit covers the whole of Catalonia.
  • It is intended to respond to police functions in the aerial sphere.

Helicopters and drones in the wider aerial policing plan

The creation of the Central Helicopter Unit is tied to a broader expansion of Mossos aerial policing capacity. In April 2022, the Government of Catalonia said the force had incorporated two new helicopters into the Central Helicopter Unit.

More recently, the Government of Catalonia said Mossos had begun a territorial air deployment across Catalonia with the incorporation of 24 fixed-wing drones intended for the fight against drug trafficking. That rollout is separate from the helicopter unit itself, but it forms part of the same aerial policing strategy.

The force's official directory of Mossos units lists the specialist structures used to carry out these functions.

Primary sources: mossos.gencat.cat, Mossos d'Esquadra - Gencat, Mossos d'Esquadra, Mossos d'Esquadra - Gencat, Mossos d'Esquadra (Generalitat de Catalunya), Mossos d'Esquadra (Generalitat de Catalunya), Generalitat de Catalunya (Govern), Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE), Mossos d'Esquadra (Generalitat de Catalunya), Government of Catalonia (Govern.cat), Mossos d'Esquadra - Gencat.