Licensing, staffing models and what a guarding contract really costs
Manned guarding is a regulated activity in most jurisdictions, and the licence is the first gate. Individual officers hold a licence for the activity they perform -- static guarding, door supervision, cash in transit, close protection -- and the company holds an approval of its own, with screening of employment history over a stated number of years before an officer is deployed. Buyers verify the licences rather than the assertion, and a bid based on a workforce that does not yet hold them is a delivery risk the evaluation is designed to find.
The price is a wage plus an on-cost, and the room for manoeuvre is narrow. Applicable wage floors, holiday and sickness cover, training time, and the relief factor needed to keep a post covered around the clock are close to fixed, so an unusually low bid is usually a signal about one of them. Where a contract is transferring from an incumbent, employment protection rules commonly move the existing officers across on existing terms, which fixes most of the cost before the bidder starts and makes the transferring staff information supplied at tender the most important document in the pack.
Specifications increasingly describe outcomes and the technology that supports them rather than hours on a gate. Assignment instructions, incident reporting, patrol verification, control room monitoring, response times to alarms and integration with electronic access and surveillance systems are all defined and measured. For sites with public access or vulnerable users, conflict management and safeguarding training are specified, and the buyer usually retains the right to require removal of an individual officer without cause, which the bidder has to be able to absorb.
This section describes how this category is bought generally, across the public buyers that publish it. The figures elsewhere on this page are measured for this market alone.
Who buys security services in Spain?
GlobalGov holds 157 security services records from 134 distinct buying organisations in Spain. The most frequent publishers are AENA, S.M.E., S.A. (3 records); Bilbao Exhibition Centre, S.A. - Bilbao Exhibition Centre, S.A. (3 records); Presidencia de la Diputación Provincial de Ciudad Real (3 records); Ayuntamiento de Laredo (2 records); Bilbao Ekintza, E.P.E.L. - Bilbao Ekintza, E.P.E.L. (2 records); Consejero Delegado de Ingeniería de Sistemas para la Defensa de España S.A., S.M.E. y M.P. (2 records). Between them the 6 largest account for 9.6% of everything published, so buying here is spread across many separate authorities.
| Buying organisation | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| AENA, S.M.E., S.A. | 3 | 1.9% |
| Bilbao Exhibition Centre, S.A. - Bilbao Exhibition Centre, S.A. | 3 | 1.9% |
| Presidencia de la Diputación Provincial de Ciudad Real | 3 | 1.9% |
| Ayuntamiento de Laredo | 2 | 1.3% |
| Bilbao Ekintza, E.P.E.L. - Bilbao Ekintza, E.P.E.L. | 2 | 1.3% |
| Consejero Delegado de Ingeniería de Sistemas para la Defensa de España S.A., S.M.E. y M.P. | 2 | 1.3% |
What are security services contracts worth in Spain?
146 of the 157 records publish a contract value. The median is $688,149 and the largest single published value is $74.3M. By size, 1 under $100k, 87 between $100k and $1M, 51 between $1M and $10M, 7 above $10M. The remaining 11 publish no value at all, so every figure here describes the priced subset only, and values are as stated by the buyer rather than as finally awarded.
| Contract size | Records | Share of priced |
|---|---|---|
| under $100k | 1 | 0.7% |
| between $100k and $1M | 87 | 60% |
| between $1M and $10M | 51 | 35% |
| above $10M | 7 | 4.8% |
How long do bidders get to respond to security services tenders in Spain?
Across the 79 Spain security services notices that publish both a publication date and a closing date, the median response window is 34 days. A quarter of them allowed 31 days or fewer and a quarter stayed open for more than 38. Short turnarounds are the exception rather than the rule here: only 1 (1.3%) closed within a fortnight of being published.
How often are security services tenders published in Spain?
Spain publishes about 3 notices a month in this category, 38 in the last twelve months. That is 12% more than the 34 published in the twelve months before that. Over the last three years there were 89, spread across 53 separate months of activity since 25 June 2021. January is historically the busiest month. No new notice has been published in this category since 26 May 2026, 128 days ago, so treat the figures above as a record of the market rather than as this week's pipeline.
How does Spain compare with other security services markets?
Among the 29 countries where GlobalGov holds a comparable security services market, Spain ranks 10th by number of records. The largest is Netherlands (1,431 records against 157 here). Within Spain itself, security services is the 50th largest of the 71 procurement categories tracked here.
Where do the Spain security services records on this page come from?
These 157 records are collected from 1 official source: TED (157). GlobalGov is an independent aggregator and is not affiliated with any of them; each record links back to the notice on its issuing portal. The set is rebuilt nightly, and the counts on this page were taken on 2026-10-01.
Most recent Security Services tenders in Spain
None of these are open for bids now — they are the most recent records GlobalGov holds for this market, kept here so the shape of a typical security services notice in Spain is visible. Set an alert to be told when the next one opens.
Spain – Security services – Servicio de vigilancia de seguridad en las dependencias del CAPN en El Pardo, San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Aranjuez, La Granja de San Ildefonso, Sevilla, Palma de Mallorca, Yuste, Lanzarote, Patronato de Huelgas y Patronato de Santa Clara
Spain – Security services – Servicio de vigilancia en las diferentes edificaciones de la Dirección Regional de Navegación Aérea Este
Spain – Security services – CP-2025-24 Servicio de vigilancia y seguridad en el Hospital Duran y Reynals de Hospitalet de Llobregat
Spain – Security services – El objeto del contrato será la realización del " Servicio de vigilancia y seguridad en varios centros docentes dependientes de laConsejería de Educación, Formación Profesional, Actividad Física y Deportes y en las dependencias administrativas ubicadas en elEdificio Granadera en Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Spain – Security services – Servicios de Seguridad Privada en los edificios de la Delegación Especial de la AEAT de Extremadura
Spain – Personnel and payroll services – Acuerdo Marco para la prestación del servicio de asistencia para la gestión de nóminas y asesoría laboral a través de la Central de Contratación de la FEMP
Spain – Security services – Servicio de vigilancia, seguridad y control de las instalaciones del parque móvil y de maquinaria de la Diputación provincial de Ourense
Spain – Security services – CONTRATACIÓN DEPENDENCIAS Y ESPACIOS EXTERIORES DE LA UNIVERSIDAD ROVIRA Y VIRGILI I FUNDACIÓ CONJUNTA DEL SERVICIO DE VIGILANCIA, SEGURIDAD Y RECEPCIÓN DE LOS EDIFICIOS
Spain – Supply services of personnel including temporary staff – Contratación de los servicios de azafatos/as del Fórum Evolución Burgos, Palacio de Congresos y Auditorio
Other procurement categories in Spain
Vehicle MaintenanceMedical EquipmentWaste ManagementManagement ConsultingSoftware DevelopmentVehicles and FleetArchitecture and EngineeringHospital ConstructionPharmaceuticalsIct EquipmentFacilities and CleaningGround TransportMaintenance & RepairEvent ManagementFinancial AdvisoryAgricultural EquipmentLaboratory EquipmentFuel SupplyIT ConsultingBuilding ConstructionTelecommunicationsRoads and Highways InfrastructureStaffing AugmentationFreight and LogisticsOffice FurnitureTraining and Capacity BuildingCommunity DevelopmentBuilding MaterialsOil Gas UpstreamCatering ServicesUniforms ClothingCommunications PrMail CourierFood Aid and NutritionCivil ConstructionPrinting PublishingHelpdesk SupportScientific ResearchMilitary LogisticsEnergyAudit and AccountingHealthcare ServicesRoad & InfrastructureNetwork InfrastructureResearch & DevelopmentRenovation RehabilitationWeapons SystemsCurriculum DevelopmentDatabase ManagementTraining & EducationCybersecuritySite PreparationWater Supply ProjectsElectrical InstallationResearch and StudiesConsultingSurveillance & IsrEnvironmental ServicesPower TransmissionTransportationWarehousingSanitation SewerageFinancial ServicesSchools and UniversitiesLegal ServicesISR and SurveillanceAdult LiteracyFacilities ManagementIt Support & MaintenanceMonitoring Evaluation
Security Services procurement in other markets
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