Jesús Gayoso Rey

Jesús Gayoso Rey
Birth nameJesús Gayoso Rey
Born(1971-04-26)26 April 1971
Mieres, Asturias, Spain
Died27 March 2020(2020-03-27) (aged 48)
Logroño, Spain
AllegianceKingdom of Spain
Service/branchSpanish Civil Guard
Years of service1996–2020
RankLieutenant colonel
Commands heldHead of the Rapid Action Group
Chief of Haro lockdown during coronavirus pandemic in Spain

Jesús Gayoso Rey (26 April 1971 – 27 March 2020) was a Spanish Lieutenant colonel Civil Guard. He had been head of the Rapid Action Group since 2014.

Biography[edit]

Gayoso was born in the Asturian town of Mieres in 1971, but grew up in La Coruña. He was the son of a Civil Guard and was married.[1][2] He died on 27 March 2020 as a result of complications from COVID-19.

Career[edit]

In 1991, Gayoso joined the Zaragoza General Military Academy, where he graduated as a lieutenant in July 1996. That same year and after successfully completing the special training course, he was assigned to the 1st Company of the Rapid Action Group (Grupo de Acción Rápida, GAR), based in Bilbao, where his unit participated in counter-terrorism work. When he was promoted to captain he put himself in charge of the 3rd Company of Navarra, and later, between 2001 and 2007, he directed the 2nd Company of San Sebastián, based in Inchaurrondo.[3][4]

As commander, he was assigned to the General Staff of the Directorate-General of the Civil Guard, where he remained between 2009 and 2014. Finally, he returned as Chief of GAR, the elite unit of the Civil Guard, where he was promoted to lieutenant colonel.[5]

During his professional career, he participated in several humanitarian missions abroad, being assigned to the mission in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2010, and in countries such as Tunisia, Belarus, Mauritania, Niger, Turkey, Bulgaria, Chil], Israel, Iraq, Finland, Romania, Honduras and Morocco. He was appointed as leader of the European Union project GARSI-Sahel where police from African countries similar to GAR are trained. His last commission was in Niger, where he was deployed with a Company of Gendarmes on the border with Mali.

2020 Haro lockdown[edit]

The GAR headquarters was established in Logroño. La Rioja is one of the regions of Spain hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. During the first weeks, one of the main outbreaks was located in the Rioja town of Haro.[6] To contain the disease, the GAR in that municipality carried out security and disinfection tasks.[7] Gayoso contracted the disease, although he was not physically deployed in Haro, and was admitted to the intensive care unit of the San Pedro de Logroño Hospital.[8][9] On 27 March 2020, the Ministry of the Interior announced that he had died,[10] becoming the fourth fatality within the security corps due to the disease.[11]

Awards[12][edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Muere el gallego Jesús Gayoso, jefe del GAR de la Guardia Civil (in Spanish)
  2. ^ Un mito del GAR, el cuerpo que contribuyó a reinventar (in Spanish)
  3. ^ Fallece el jefe del GARde la Guardia Civil víctima del coronavirus Archived 2020-03-29 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish)
  4. ^ Fallece el teniente coronel del GAR, Jesús Gayoso, por coronavirus (in Spanish)
  5. ^ Muere por coronavirus el teniente coronel que lideraba los GAR de la Guardia Civil (in Spanish)
  6. ^ Haro, ciudad fantasma y nuevo foco de coronavirus de La Rioja (in Spanish)
  7. ^ El GAR se despliega en Haro para ayudar a contener el brote de coronavirus (in Spanish)
  8. ^ Los guardias del GAR envían un mensaje de ánimo a su jefe, grave y en la UCI (in Spanish)
  9. ^ El jefe del GAR de la Guardia Civil que está grave en la uci es gallego (in Spanish)
  10. ^ @guardiacivil (March 27, 2020). "Lamentamos comunicar el fallecimiento de Jesús, jefe del Grupo de Acción Rápida #GAR, víctima del #COVID19 Nues…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  11. ^ Fallece por Covid-19 el jefe de la unidad de élite de la Guardia Civil (in Spanish)
  12. ^ Así era Jesús Gayoso, teniente coronel fallecido con coronavirus en Logroño (in Spanish)
  13. ^ "Los 40 años de Constitución son los mejores años de nuestra historia" (in Spanish)