Early on Thursday afternoon, Gotovina was transferred aboard a military plane from the Canary Islands, where he was arrested on Wednesday night, to the Torrejon de Ardoz military base in Madrid. He was escorted by Spanish Interpol officers under tight security measures.
When Gotovina appears before the court, Judge Degayon will approve his immediate transfer to the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia aboard a NATO plane, according to the Spanish media.
According to the media, Gotovina was arrested last night while having a dinner in the restaurant of the "Bitacora" hotel in the south of Tenerife. He held a fake passport with the name Kristijan Horvat.
Gotovina did not resist the arrest, which was carried out by nine agents of the Chief Police Administration without any incidents, the Spanish interior ministry reported.
The spokesman for the National Police, Javier Ridao, said that Gotovina had been in Tenerife for several days before his apprehension.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero congratulated agents and the police chief on the operation.