The first government of

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (; born 4 August 1960) is a Spanish politician and member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). He was the Prime Minister of Spain being elected for two terms, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections ...

was formed on 18 August 2004, following the latter's election as

Prime Minister of Spain The prime minister of Spain, officially president of the Government ( es, link=no, Presidente del Gobierno), is the head of government of Spain. The office was established in its current form by the Constitution of 1978 and it was first regula ...

by the

Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Ma ...

on 16 August and his swearing-in on 17 August, as a result of the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...

(PSOE) emerging as the largest parliamentary force at the

2004 Spanish general election The 2004 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 14 March 2004, to elect the 8th Cortes Generales of the Kingdom of Spain. All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 259 seats in the Senate. The electo ...

. It succeeded the second Aznar government and was the

Government of Spain gl, Goberno de España eu, Espainiako Gobernua , image = , caption = Logo of the Government of Spain , headerstyle = background-color: #efefef , label1 = Role , data1 = Executive power , label2 = Established , da ...

from 18 August 2004 to 14 April 2008, a total of days, or . The cabinet comprised members of the PSOE (including its sister party, the

Socialists' Party of Catalonia The Socialists' Party of Catalonia ( ca, Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya, PSC–PSOE official acronym) is a social-democratic political party in Catalonia, Spain, resulting from the merger of three parties: the Socialist Party of Catalonia� ...

, PSC) and a number of independents. It was automatically dismissed on 10 March 2008 as a consequence of the 2008 general election, but remained in acting capacity until the next government was sworn in.

Investiture

Cabinet changes

Zapatero's first government saw a number of cabinet changes during its tenure: *On 7 April 2006,

José Bono José Bono Martínez (born 14 December 1950) is a politician of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). He served as President of the Congress of Deputies during the 9th Legislature. Before that, he was the Minister of Defence of Spain fro ...

's stepping down as

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from coun ...

out of personal motives, a decision which had been taken throughout the months prior, led to the first cabinet reshuffle of Zapatero's premiership.

José Antonio Alonso José Antonio Alonso Suárez (28 March 1960 – 2 February 2017) was a Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) politician, cabinet minister and judge. He was born in León. A jurist (judge since 1985 after graduating from the University of Leo ...

replaced Bono in Defence, and in turn he was replaced by Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba as

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

María Jesús San Segundo María Jesús San Segundo Gómez de Cadiñanos (25 March 1958 – 17 December 2010), was a Spanish economist, academic, diplomat and politician, minister of Education and Science of Spain between 2004 and 2006. Biography María Jesús San Segun ...

was replaced by Mercedes Cabrera as Minister of Education and Science. The new ministers were sworn into office on 11 April. *On 8 September 2006,

José Montilla José Montilla Aguilera (born 15 January 1955 in Iznájar, Andalusia, Spain) is a Spanish politician who is currently a member of the Spanish Senate. He was the 128th President of Generalitat de Catalunya. He became the First Secretary of th ...

stepped down as Minister of Industry, Tourism and Trade in order to run as the

(PSC)'s candidate for

President of the Government of Catalonia The President of the Government of Catalonia ( ca, President de la Generalitat de Catalunya, ) is one of the bodies that the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia stipulates as part of the Generalitat de Catalunya, others being the Parliament, the gov ...

in the

2006 Catalan regional election The 2006 Catalan regional election was held on Wednesday, 1 November 2006, to elect the 8th Parliament of the autonomous community of Catalonia. All 135 seats in the Parliament were up for election. This was a snap election, called roughly one y ...

. He was succeeded by

Mayor of Barcelona This is a list of mayors of Barcelona since 1916. Mayors before Franco *... * Bartomeu Robert i Yarzábal (1899 - 1901) *... * Manuel Rius i Rius (1916 - 1917) * Antoni Martínez i Domingo (1917 - 1917) * Lluís Duran i Ventosa (1917 - 1917) * ...

Joan Clos Joan Clos i Matheu, GCIH (; born 29 June 1949) is a Spanish politician who was mayor of Barcelona, Spain from September 1997 to September 2006. He took over from Pasqual Maragall in 1997. In 1999 he was elected to a four-year term, and was the ...

. *On 12 February 2007,

Mariano Fernández Bermejo Mariano Fernández Bermejo (born 1948) is a Spanish jurist and politician, who served as justice minister of Spain from 2007 to 2009. Early life and education Bermejo was born in Arenas de San Pedro, Ávila, in 1948. He holds a PhD in law, which ...

replaced

Juan Fernando López Aguilar Juan Fernando López Aguilar (born 10 June 1961) is a Spanish jurist and politician of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) who has been serving as a member of the European Parliament since 2009. He served as Minister of Justice in the gov ...

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

, after the latter's decision to lead the

(PSOE) into the

2007 Canarian regional election The 2007 Canarian regional election was held on Sunday, 27 May 2007, to elect the 7th Parliament of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands. All 60 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with re ...

. López Aguilar had been nominated unopposed as the party's leading candidate for

President of the Canary Islands The president of the Canary Islands is the head of government of the Canary Islands, one of the 17 autonomous communities of Spain, while the monarch Felipe VI remains the head of state as king of Spain (and therefore of the Canary Islands). Lis ...

on 28 October 2006, after several months of speculation. *On 9 July 2007, a second major cabinet reshuffle saw

Bernat Soria Bernat Soria Escoms (born 7 May 1951) is a Spanish scientist. He is also affiliated with the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, for whom he served as Minister of Health from 2007 to 2009. He was educated at the University of Valencia (MD, PhD), an ...

replacing

Elena Salgado Elena Salgado Méndez () (born 12 May 1949 in Ourense, Galicia, Spain) is a Spanish politician of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Spain and held several ministerial portfolios during her politi ...

as Minister of Health and Consumer Affairs, who in turn replaced Jordi Sevilla in the Public Administrations ministry. María Antonia Trujillo was replaced by

Carme Chacón Carme Maria Chacón Piqueras (; March 13, 1971April 9, 2017) was a Spanish lawyer, lecturer and politician who was minister of Defence from 2008 to 2011 in the cabinet led by Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. Member of Sp ...

as Minister of Housing, and

César Antonio Molina César Antonio Molina Sánchez (born 14 September 1952) is a Spanish writer, translator, university professor, cultural manager and politician. He served as Minister of Culture of Spain from July 2007 until April 2009. References 1952 bir ...

became the new officeholder of the

Culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...

portfolio replacing

Carmen Calvo María del Carmen Calvo Poyato (born 9 June 1957) is a Spanish politician and author who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Spain and Minister of the Presidency from 2018 to 2021. Born and raised in Cabra, Spain, she attended the University ...

Council of Ministers

The

Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...

was structured into the offices for the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

, the two

deputy prime ministers A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president ...

, 16

ministries Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

and the post of the spokesperson of the Government.

Departmental structure

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's first government was organised into several superior and governing units, whose number, powers and hierarchical structure varied depending on the ministerial department. ;Unit/body rank *() Secretary of state *()

Undersecretary Undersecretary (or under secretary) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is al ...

*()

Director-general A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a government ...

*() Autonomous agency *()

Military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

intelligence agency An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, Intelligence analysis, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objective ...

Notes

References

External links

Governments. Juan Carlos I (20.11.1975 ...)
CCHS-CSIC (in Spanish).
Governments of Spain 2004–2011. Ministers of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish).

Lluís Belenes i Rodríguez History Page (in Spanish). {{DEFAULTSORT:Zapatero government 1 2004 establishments in Spain 2008 disestablishments in Spain Cabinets established in 2004 Cabinets disestablished in 2008 Council of Ministers (Spain)