The Ministry of Defence (MINISDEF) is the department of the

Government of Spain The government of Spain () is the central government which leads the executive branch and the General State Administration of the Kingdom of Spain. The Government consists of the Prime Minister and the Ministers; the prime minister has the ...

responsible for planning, developing and carrying out the general guidelines of the Government about the defence policy and the managing of the

military administration Military administration identifies both the techniques and systems used by military departments, agencies, and armed services involved in managing the armed forces. It describes the processes that take place within military organisations outs ...

. It is the administrative and executive body of the

Spanish Armed Forces The Spanish Armed Forces are in charge of guaranteeing the sovereignty and independence of the Spain, Kingdom of Spain, defending its territorial integrity and the constitutional order, according to the functions entrusted to them by the Spanish ...

. According to the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

of 1978, the

Monarch A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...

is the Commander in Chief of the

Spanish military The Spanish Armed Forces are in charge of guaranteeing the sovereignty and independence of the Spain, Kingdom of Spain, defending its territorial integrity and the constitutional order, according to the functions entrusted to them by the Spanish ...

. He can declare war or conclude peace with authorization of the

Cortes Generales The (; ) are the Bicameralism, bicameral legislative chambers of Spain, consisting of the Congress of Deputies (the lower house) and the Senate of Spain, Senate (the upper house). The Congress of Deputies meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, ...

, provided this act is countersigned by the

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. The Ministry of Defence is headed by the Minister of Defence, a

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

member who depends directly from the

. Beneath the Ministry of Defence are five subordinate principal departments: the Armed Forces headed by the Chief of the Defence Staff (JEMAD) which is divided in three military branches led by the Chief of Staff of the Army (JEME), the Chief of Staff of the Navy (AJEMA) and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force (JEMA); the Secretariat of State for Defence (headed by the Secretary of State, SEDEF); the Undersecretariat of Defence headed by the Ministry's Under-Secretary (SUBDEF) and the General Secretariat for Defence Policy head by the Secretary-General (SEGENPOL). In addition, the

National Intelligence Centre National Intelligence Centre may refer to: * National Intelligence Centre (Mexico) * National Intelligence Centre (Spain) The National Intelligence Centre (, CNI) is the Spanish official intelligence agency, acting as both its foreign and d ...

(CNI) is subordinated to the Ministry of Defence. The current holder of the Ministry is

Margarita Robles María Margarita Robles Fernández (; born 10 November 1956 in León) is a Spaniards, Spanish judge and politician, currently serving as Ministry of Defence (Spain), Minister of Defence since June 2018. From November 2019 to January 2020, she s ...

History

Primitive military administration

Since the first origins of

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, the monarchy has been the main form of government. That is the main reason why the first government departments appeared in the 18th century because for centuries, the monarch controlled all the power. At the beginning, the King controlled the military through its

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

which was divided in different sections dedicated to advise the King in the different areas of government.

Single and double secretariat

On July 11, 1705, King Philip V created a Secretariat for war and treasury matters, called Secretariat of the Dispatch of War and Treasury mainly because of the

War of Succession A war of succession is a war prompted by a succession crisis in which two or more individuals claim to be the Order of succession, rightful successor to a demise of the Crown, deceased or deposition (politics), deposed monarch. The rivals are ...

. Once the war was over, in 1714 the Administration was reformed and two secretariats appeared: one dedicated to the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

called Secretariat of the Dispatch of War and another to the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

called the Secretariat of the Dispatch of the Navy and Indies. The Secretariat of the Dispatch of the Navy and Indies was suppressed in 1715 and the competences over the Navy were transferred to the Secretariat of War. In 1721 the Secretariat of the Dispatch of the Navy was re-created assuming the competences on the naval forces but on 30 January 1776, the Secretariat of the Dispatch of the Indies was recovered assuming the control of the overseas's naval forces. Since then, the Secretariat of the Navy had competences only on the naval forces of the

Peninsular Spain Peninsular Spain is the part of the territory of Spain located within the Iberian Peninsula, thus excluding other parts of Spain: the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, Ceuta, Melilla, and several islets and crags off the coast of Morocco kno ...

, the Canaries and the

Balearics The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a province and autonomous community of Spain, with Palma de Mallorca being its capital and largest ...

because the Secretariat of the Dispatch of the Indies assumed the responsibilities on the naval forces in the rest of the

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

. It wasn't until 1790 that this Secretariat also assumed the competences on the Overseas Navy when the Indies Secretariat was suppressed. The same did the Secretariat of War with the competencies on the land forces in the Indies.

Ministries

This organization was maintained through decades and at the beginning of the 19th century, the terms Secretariat and Ministry were used as synonymous, until 1851 when the Ministry of War and Ministry of the Navy were officially renamed. Since the

Constitution of 1812 The Political Constitution of the Spanish Monarchy (), also known as the Constitution of Cádiz () and nicknamed ''La Pepa'', was the first Constitution of Spain and one of the earliest codified constitutions in world history. The Constitution w ...

, which creates the Secretary of State and of the Dispatch of the Overseas Government, until the creation of the Ministry of Overseas in 1863, there were constant hesitations in the allocation of powers over those domains and which advisory body to go in case of doubt in the resolution of the issues. In 1836 it is the Ministry of the Navy who assumes these functions; A few years later, they move to the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

. In 1851 an Overseas Council and an Overseas Directorate were created under the Office of the Prime Minister. The hesitations continue regarding the advisory body (the Overseas Council alternates with the Royal Council and the Advisory Board) the vacillations also occur in terms of the dependence of the Directorate that passes to the Ministry of State in 1854, it is added to the

Development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development (music), the process by which thematic material is reshaped * Photographic development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting * Development hell, when a proje ...

in 1856, to return to State a few months later and depends on the Ministry of War from 1858 until the creation of the Overseas Ministry by Royal Decree of 20 May 1863. It subsists until the loss of those imperial provinces and is definitively suppressed by Royal Decree of 15 April 1899.

First attempt and final unification

At the beginning of the 20th century, the

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

started to make its firsts steps and at the very start they were just the air branch of the

and later it was also created a Naval Air Force subordinated to the

. During the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, the armed forces split into two sides: the republican and the nationalist. In the republican side, there were two main ministries: the Ministry of War and the Ministry of the Navy and Aire Force; in the national side, there were only one unified ministry, the Ministry of National Defence that had all the competences over the three branches. After the Civil War, the

Francoist regime Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in ...

divided again the former Ministry of National Defence intro three ministries: Ministry of the Army, Ministry of the Navy and the new Ministry of the Air Force (created in 1939). This three military departments disappeared in 1977 when they merged into the current Ministry of Defence. This new Ministry of Defence established its headquarters in a building belonged to the Ministry of Culture and the three headquarters of the military ministries were destined to hold the main headquarters of each military branch. The position of Under Secretary of Defence was created in 1977. The new military organization was established in 1984 with the JEMAD as the Chief Operative of the Armed Forces and the

(through the Defence Minister) as '' de facto'' leader of the Armed Forces. The

remained as the symbolic commander-in-chief and the position of

Secretary of State for Defence The secretary of state for defence, also known as the defence secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Ministry of Defence. As a senior minister, the incumbent is a member of the ...

was created too. In 2018, the

returned to the department's structure, and Paz Esteban López was appointed its first female

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

in 2020. On 2023, the administrative rank of the Center of Systems and Technologies of the Information and Communications was raised to directorate-general and, in September 2024, a new Directorate-General for Strategy and Innovation of the Defence Industry was created from some of the responsibilities of the Directorate-General for Armament and Materiel.

Structure

The Department is organized as follows: * The

Armed Forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...

** The Chief of the Defence Staff ** The Chief of Staff of the Army ** The Chief of Staff of the Navy ** The Chief of Staff of the Air Force * The Secretariat of State for Defence ** The Directorate-General for Strategy and Innovation of the Defence Industry ** The Directorate-General for Armament and Materiel ** The Directorate-General for Economic Affairs ** The Directorate-General for Infrastructure **The Center of Systems and Technologies of the Information and Communications *The General Secretariat for Defence Policy **The Directorate-General for Defence Policy **The Division for Security and Defence Studies and Coordination * The Undersecretariat of Defence ** The Technical General Secretariat ** The Directorate-General for Personnel ** The Directorate-General for Military Recruitment and Teaching **The Deputy Directorate-General for the Internal Regime **The Deputy Directorate-General for Economic and Payroll Services **The Legal Department of the Defence **The

Office of the Comptroller General of the Defence The Office of the Comptroller General of the Defence () is a department of the Ministry of Defence of Spain that exercises the internal audit of the economic and financial management of the Ministry and of the public agencies dependent on it. Like ...

**The Inspectorate-General for Defence Health ** The Military Prison of Alcalá de Henares * The Directorate for Institutional Communication of Defence The Civil Guard depends on the Ministry of Defence in the terms stipulated by laws. The Ministry of Defence's consultant and advisory bodies are: * The Superior Council of the Army * The Superior Council of the Navy * The Superior Council of the Air Force * The Superior Boards of the Common Corps of the Armed Forces

Agencies

* The

National Institute for Aerospace Technology The National Institute for Aerospace Technology "Esteban Terradas" ( or ''INTA'') is an autonomous agency of the Spanish public administration dependent on the Secretariat of State for Defence (SEDEF). It is responsible for the aerospace, aer ...

* The Institute for Housing, Infrastructure and Equipment of the Defence * The Social Institute of the Armed Forces * The Superior Council for Military Sport * The Military Observatory for Equality between Women and Men in the Armed Forces * The

Military Archbishopric of Spain The Military Archbishopric of Spain () is a military ordinariate of the Roman Catholic Church. Immediately subject to the Holy See, it provides pastoral care to Roman Catholics serving in the Spanish Armed Forces and their families. History T ...

Chain of Command

The Chain of Command of the military is regulated in the National Defence Organic Act of 2005. Like the

, the law recognizes the

as the supreme commander of the

. The

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

is the body in charge of establishing the defence policy as well as control of the military administration. The

is the civilian authority in command of the Armed Forces. The Minister of Defence, under the authority of the Prime Minister, control the Armed Forces and establish the military policy. The Chief of the Defence Staff (JEMAD) is the fourth military authority, in charge over the operative command of the Armed Forces. After the Chief of the Defence Staff are the Chief of Staff of the different branches. The

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

is the responsible for authorising the signing of military treaties, approving the defence laws and military budgets and authorize the Sovereign to declare war and to make peace. In particular, the

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

is responsible for authorising the use of the Armed Forces abroad in missions that are not of national interest, if they are of national interest, the Government can use them without authorization but communicating it to the Congress. # The

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

# The

# The Minister of Defence # The Chief of the Defence Staff # The Chief of Staff of the Army, the Chief of Staff of the Navy and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force # Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army, the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Navy and the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Air Force

Headquarters

The first military departments —

War War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

and

— were headquartered at the royal residence, first in the Royal Alcázar from 1714 to 1734, briefly in the Royal Palace of Buen Retiro since 1734 and in the

Royal Palace This is a list of royal palaces, sorted by continent. Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania {, class="wikitable" width="95%" , - bgcolor="white" !align=center, Residence !align=center, Photo !align=center, City !align=cen ...

when its construction was finished. In 1826, due to the lack of space in the Royal Palace, they relocated to the

Palace of Marqués de Grimaldi The Palace of Marqués de Grimaldi (Spanish: ''Palacio del Marqués de Grimaldi'') is a palace located in Madrid, Spain. It was declared ''Bien de Interés Cultural'' in 2000. History Also called the Godoy Palace (Spanish : ''Palacio de Godo ...

. However, a fire in 1846 forced all government departments to be relocated and only the Ministry of the Navy stayed in that Palace. The Ministry of War installed in the Buenavista Palace in 1847, a building that previously housed some military facilities. In 1915, given the poor state of the Grimaldi Palace, a new headquarters for the Ministry of the Navy was built. With the creation of the Ministry of the Air in 1939, the same thing happened and by the 1950s the new Ministry already occupied its own

palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

in Moncloa Square. Already during the

democratic transition A democratic transition describes a phase in a country's political system as a result of an ongoing change from an authoritarian regime to a Democracy, democratic one. The process is known as democratisation, political changes moving in a democrat ...

, in 1977 the new Ministry of Defence was created, being headquartered in the Palacio de Buenavista until 1981. That year, all central services were moved out to a large building located at number 109

Paseo de la Castellana Paseo de la Castellana, commonly known as La Castellana, is a major thoroughfare in Madrid, Spain. Cutting across the city from south to north, it has been described as the "true structuring axis" of the city. History and description The street ...

(belonging to the

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: * Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) * Ministry of Culture (Argentina) * Minister for the Arts (Australia) * Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan)Ministry o ...

and that previously had been the headquarters of the

Ministry of Information and Tourism The Ministry of Information and Tourism () was a ministerial department of the Government of Spain created in 1951 during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco to control information and the censorship of press and radio. The ministry also assume ...

) in which it still remains today. As for the other three palaces, they continued to belong to the department but became the general headquarters of the Army branches.

List of ministers of defence of Spain

History

Primitive military administration

Single and double secretariat

Ministries

First attempt and final unification

Structure

Agencies

Chain of Command

Headquarters

List of ministers of defence of Spain

References

Notes

See also

Related articles

External links