The second government of

Adolfo Suárez Adolfo Suárez González, 1st Duke of Suárez (; 25 September 1932 – 23 March 2014) was a Spanish lawyer and politician. Suárez was Spain's first democratically elected prime minister since the Second Spanish Republic and a key figure in th ...

was formed on 5 July 1977, following the latter's confirmation 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 ...

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Juan Carlos I Juan Carlos I (;, * ca, Joan Carles I, * gl, Xoán Carlos I, Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Dos Sicilias, born 5 January 1938) is a member of the Spanish royal family who reigned as King of Spain from 22 Novem ...

on 17 June, as a result of the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) emerging as the largest parliamentary force at the 1977 general election. It succeeded the first Suárez 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 5 July 1977 to 6 April 1979, a total of days, or . Suárez's second cabinet was initially made up by independents and members from the political parties that had run within the UCD alliance, most of whom would end up joining it upon its transformation into a full-fledged political party. It was automatically dismissed on 2 March 1979 as a consequence of the 1979 general election, but remained in acting capacity until the next government was sworn in.

Cabinet changes

Suárez's second government saw a number of cabinet changes during its tenure: *On 1 September 1977, the Ministry of Culture and Welfare was renamed as Ministry of Culture, with a restructuring of the ministerial department that saw some of its competences transferred to other ministries, such as the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

. *On 27 September 1977, Ignacio Camuñas stepped down as Deputy Minister of Relations with the Cortes, without portfolio, over political discrepancies on the UCD's composition as a unitary political party. After his resignation, Camuñas's office was discontinued. *On 11 February 1978,

Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo Leopoldo Ramón Pedro Calvo-Sotelo y Bustelo, 1st Marquess of Ría de Ribadeo (; 14 April 1926 – 3 May 2008), usually known as Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo, was Prime Minister of Spain between 1981 and 1982. Early life and career Calvo-Sotelo was b ...

was appointed to the newly created post of Minister of Relations with the European Communities, without portfolio. *On 25 February 1978, a major cabinet reshuffle resulting from the resignation of

Enrique Fuentes Quintana Enrique Fuentes Quintana (1924 – 2007) was a Spanish economist, academic and politician, who served as deputy prime minister of Spain between 1977 and 1979 in the first cabinet after the Francoist State. Early life and education Quintana ...

saw Fernando Abril Martorell being reassigned as new Second Deputy Prime Minister and

Minister of Economy A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

;

Manuel Jiménez de Parga Manuel Jiménez de Parga y Cabrera (9 April 1929 – 7 May 2014) was a Spanish lawyer, politician and diplomat. He was president of the Constitutional Court of Spain between 2001 and 2004. He was professor in charge of the department of political ...

was replaced as

Minister of Labour Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

by Rafael Calvo Ortega;

Agustín Rodríguez Sahagún Agustín Rodríguez Sahagún ( Ávila, 27 March 1932 – Paris, 13 October 1991) was a Spanish politician and businessman as well as being a doctor in economics and law who was best known as being the mayor of Madrid from 1989 to 1991. He studi ...

replaced Alberto Oliart in the Ministry of Industry and Energy; Jaime Lamo de Espinosa became new

Minister of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

in place of José Enrique Martínez Genique; and the Ministry of Transport and Communications saw the change from José Lladó to Salvador Sánchez-Terán. *On 23 March 1979,

Landelino Lavilla Landelino Lavilla Alsina (6 August 1934 – 13 April 2020) was a Spanish lawyer and politician who served as the minister of justice from 1976 to 1979. He also served as member of parliament and as senator. His most important role was as Pr ...

was elected

President of the Congress of Deputies The president of the Congress of Deputies ( es, Presidente del Congreso de los Diputados) is the speaker of the Congress of Deputies, the lower house of the Cortes Generales (the Spanish parliament). The president is elected among the members o ...

of the 1st Legislature, a position incompatible with his post as acting

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 ...

Rodolfo Martín Villa Rodolfo Martín Villa (born 3 October 1934) is a Spanish engineer and politician, who served in various capacities in the cabinets of the Spanish transition to democracy, including interior minister and first deputy prime minister. He is being ...

, acting

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 ...

, took on the ordinary duties of the affairs of Lavilla's vacant ministry.

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 natio ...

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 three

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 ...

and 18

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 ...

, including a number of deputy ministers without portfolio. From February 1978, the council would only include two deputy prime ministers.

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

Governments. Juan Carlos I (20.11.1975 ...)
CCHS-CSIC (in Spanish).
Governments of Spain 1977–1982. Ministers of Adolfo Suárez and Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo
Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish).

Lluís Belenes i Rodríguez History Page (in Spanish). {{DEFAULTSORT:Suárez government 2 1977 establishments in Spain 1979 disestablishments in Spain Cabinets established in 1977 Cabinets disestablished in 1979 Council of Ministers (Spain)