Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08MADRID180
2008-02-19 09:17:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Madrid
Cable title:  

SPAIN: CI/KR RESPONSE FOR S/CT

Tags:  ASEC ECON PTER PREL PGOV ETTC EAID EAGER EFIN 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO1107
PP RUEHLA
DE RUEHMD #0180 0500917
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 190917Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4292
INFO RHEFHTA/TSA HQ WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA 3316
UNCLAS MADRID 000180 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR S/CT (GAIL ROBERTSON)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC ECON PTER PREL PGOV ETTC EAID EAGER EFIN
SP
SUBJECT: SPAIN: CI/KR RESPONSE FOR S/CT

REF: STATE 6461

UNCLAS MADRID 000180

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR S/CT (GAIL ROBERTSON)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC ECON PTER PREL PGOV ETTC EAID EAGER EFIN
SP
SUBJECT: SPAIN: CI/KR RESPONSE FOR S/CT

REF: STATE 6461


1. (SBU) Per REFTEL, Embassy Madrid's Counterterrorism
Working Group has collectively taken inventory of Spain's
critical infrastructure and key resources and does not
believe that the country possesses any CI/KR that, if
destroyed, disrupted, or exploited, would have an immediate
and deleterious effect on the United States. Since the
Madrid train bombings of March 11, 2004, the Spanish
government has taken steps to better defend itself against a
future terrorist attack. In recent months, critical
infrastructure protection, both physical and cyber, has
become a priority interest for the GOS with the establishment
of a national center to assess and protect critical
infrastructure. Under the auspices of the Spanish Ministry
of Interior's Secretary of State for Security, the Spanish
government created in late 2007 the National Center of
Critical Infrastructure Protection (Centro Nacional de
Proteccion de Infraestructuras Criticas - CNPIC). The
center's director is Fernando Sanchez Gomez, a former Civil
Guard officer with over 20 years of experience.


2. (SBU) According to an internal CNPIC document provided to
the Embassy, the center's mandate includes:

-- Maintaining and updating the GOS' Plan for Critical
Infrastructure Security and National Catalog of Strategic
Infrastructure

-- Gathering, analyzing, integrating and evaluating
information from public institutions, police departments,
strategic sectors and international cooperation

-- Providing threat assessments on and risk analysis of
strategic installations

-- Creating a mechanism for information sharing, streamlined
communications, and alert warnings

-- Command and control support through an Operations Room
when triggered by an alert

-- Establishing a national point of contact within the
European Program for Critical Infrastructure Protection


3. (SBU) CNPIC officials told us their nascent center
currently has a few knowledge gaps, including how to best
collaborate and interact with the private sector, and how to
integrate the protection of both physical security and cyber
security into a single entity. They asked for our assistance
in arranging an official visit to Washington to learn first
hand from elements of the Department of Homeland Security how
our CI protection has evolved in recent years. A small group
of Spanish technical experts will travel to the U.S. during
the week of February 18 to meet with a variety of officials
tasked with protecting U.S. critical infrastructure. The
group is scheduled to meet with DHS' Center for
Infrastructure Protection and visit TSA's Freedom Center.
Embassy Madrid appreciates DHS' efforts to organize this
visit and to educate our Spanish counterparts on critical
infrastructure protection. Post will report further as the
CNPIC carries out its mandate.
AGUIRRE