OPLAN 00093, dubbed 'Reinforce Confidence', anticipated the activation of a dozen units from the three Armies in just two hours during the independence crisis of October 2017. The document, authorised by Defence Minister María Dolores de Cospedal, could only be activated by order of the Government or Congress.
The Operations Plan (OPLAN) number 00093 of the Armed Forces, known as “Reinforce Confidence”, detailed the military response to a crisis scenario in Catalonia. According to THE OBJECTIVE, the document, prepared by the Operations Command of the Chief of Defence Staff (Jemad), contemplated the activation of a dozen units from the three Armies within a maximum of two hours from the Jemad's order.
The development of the plan was authorised in October 2017 by the then Defence Minister, María Dolores de Cospedal, at the request of the Jemad at the time, General Luis Alejandre Sintes. The implementation of the document was driven and coordinated by the lieutenant general head of the Operations Command, Fernando López del Pozo. The current minister, Margarita Robles, dismissed Alejandre shortly after taking office, citing a lack of trust and his alleged closeness to the Popular Party.
OPLAN 00093 established a scenario in five phases, from 0 to IV, with military measures and deployments adapted to the severity of each moment. The plan was flexible: it could move from one phase to another without needing to fulfil the intermediate one, and the final word always rested with the Jemad. The first units to be mobilised would be those already deployed in Catalonia.
The legal basis of the document relied on the Constitution, which assigns the Armed Forces the mission of guaranteeing the unity of Spain; on the National Defence Law, which provides for the duty of the Armies to preserve the security and welfare of citizens in cases of serious risk, disaster, or calamity, and on the organic law regulating states of alarm, exception, and siege.
Among the possible “opposing actors,” the plan identified independentist groups of different natures, hackers, and a “minority” sector of the Mossos d'Esquadra that could attempt actions to achieve independence. As means to respond, it cited the Armies, the Military Emergency Unit, the Armed Forces Intelligence Centre (Cifas), the Joint Cyber Defence Command, state security forces, and public and private companies.
The authors of OPLAN anticipated a strategy to combat possible actions of “propaganda and disinformation.” The document states:
“A great deal of attention from the media, opinion makers, and the population in areas where military deployments occur is to be expected.”
It adds that “the movement that can be expected will have multiple facets and reactions, both media and local,” referring to hybrid threats.
The main objectives of an operation of this type were four: to guarantee constitutional order, security, to strengthen citizens' trust (hence the name “Reinforce Confidence”) and to ensure coordination with all civil actors involved in managing the crisis. Operationally, it sought “to gain the support of the population and generate their trust; to ensure the sustainability of the deployed forces and, where applicable, the logistical support of the State Security Forces and Corps; to deter hostile acts against the security and welfare of citizens and the functioning of essential services and, if they occur, to respond appropriately and proportionately, and to protect the structures of the Armed Forces.”
The plan could only be activated by order of the Government and/or the Congress of Deputies, according to the same sources. The news, reported by THE OBJECTIVE, reveals the details of a document that was never executed but was ready to be put into action.
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