Organized along the lines of many other police tactical units throughout Europe, the GEOs is focused on dealing with terrorist attacks, including aircraft hijackings as well as maritime threats and hostage taking.

[3] The GEO can also be used in a support role for Spanish Police operations outside the realm of terrorism, and is active in protecting visiting heads of state and providing security for high-profile events such as the 1992 Summer Olympics held in Barcelona.

With the intention of fighting against terrorism and several organized crime groups from Spain in the 1970s,[5] in November 1977 the third section of Spanish military staff announced for members of the Policía Nacional vacancies which could be accessed freely for the newly formed Grupo Especial de Operaciones.

[6] The first access course of the GEO ended on 19 January 1979, with a ceremony attended by Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía of Spain.

[6] Its first planned operation took place at Madrid Barajas International Airport in August 1978 but they did not have to enter into action because the conflict was solved before their arrival.

[6] The unit has had only one casualty in combat, which occurred during the assault on the Leganés flat where the suspected perpetrators of the Madrid train bombings of 11 March 2004 were hiding.

Having realized that they were trapped, the terrorists detonated bombs in the flat killing themselves and GEO Subinspector Francisco Javier Torronteras Gadea.

[11] On 17 August 2017, an unconfirmed amount of GEO operators were sent to Barcelona after the ramming of multiple people in the Cataluna section of the city.

The GEO reports to the General Operative Subdirector of the Cuerpo Nacional de Policía and its commander is a police superintendent.

Every operative commando includes two snipers, a lock picking specialist, an explosives expert, a combat diver and a special environment technician.

To join the GEO it is necessary to have been a member of the Cuerpo Nacional de Policía for two years,[13] and to have at least one of the following skills: expertise in a martial art, scuba diving, being a marksmanship instructor, is an explosives expert and having worked in one of the operative groups the Police has in some province capitals.

[16] To communicate between them they use the Matra SIRDEE (Sistema Integral de Radiodifusión Encriptada del Estado),[17] Motorola MXR-1000 and MXR-2000 models and VHF/UHF portable repeaters.