The third government of
Felipe González
Felipe González Márquez (; born 5 March 1942) is a Spanish lawyer, professor, and politician, who was the Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) from 1974 to 1997, and the 3rd Prime Minister of Spain since the ...
was formed on 7 December 1989, 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 Spain, Constitution of 1978 a ...
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 Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid.
It has 350 members elect ...
on 5 December and his swearing-in on 6 December, 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 gove ...
(PSOE) emerging as the largest parliamentary force at the
1989 Spanish general election.
It succeeded the
second González 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
, d ...
from 7 December 1989 to 14 July 1993, a total of days, or .
González formed a continuity government, maintaining the same composition of the preceding cabinet as established in 1988. This came as a consequence of the pending legal challenges on election results in some constituencies sparking an apparent "provisionality feeling" on the new government, a situation which had already led to an unprecedented investiture session with 18 deputies being prevented by judicial courts from taking their offices. The government included two members of 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 Cataloniaâ ...
(PSC)—initially
NarcÃs Serra
NarcÃs Serra i Serra (born 30 May 1943) is a Spanish economist and politician, serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Spain from 1991 to 1995. Born in Barcelona in 1943, he was one of the leading figures of Catalan socialism during the Spanish tr ...
, later joined by
Jordi Solé Tura
Jordi Solé Tura (23 May 1930 in Mollet del Vallés – 4 December 2009 in Barcelona) was a Spanish politician, jurist and one of the co-authors and "Fathers" of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 following Spain's move to democracy. —and four independents (
Claudio Aranzadi
Claudio Aranzadi (born 9 October 1946) is a Spanish engineer, businessman and politician. He served as industry minister from 1988 to 1993.
Early life and education
Aranzadi was born in Bilbao on 9 October 1946. He holds a bachelor's degree in i ...
,
Jorge Semprún
Jorge Semprún Maura (; 10 December 1923 – 7 June 2011) was a Spanish writer and politician who lived in France most of his life and wrote primarily in French. From 1953 to 1962, during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, Semprún lived clande ...
and
Rosa Conde—who would end up joining the PSOE in November 1990
—as well as
Pedro Solbes
Pedro Solbes Mira (born 31 August 1942 in Pinoso, Alicante) is a Spanish economist. He was the president of FRIDE, Madrid-based think tank.
Career
While independent in the sense of not affiliated to any party, his various ministerial roles in ...
from March 1991).
The government was automatically dismissed on 7 June 1993 as a consequence of the
1993 general election, but remained in acting capacity until the
next government was sworn in.
Investiture
Cabinet changes
González's third government saw a number of cabinet changes during its tenure:
*On 19 April 1990,
Minister of Labour and Social Security Manuel Chaves was nominated to lead 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 gove ...
(PSOE) into the
1990 Andalusian regional election
The 1990 Andalusian regional election was held on Saturday, 23 June 1990, to elect the 3rd Parliament of the autonomous community of Andalusia. All 109 seats in the Parliament were up for election.
The candidate for the PSOE, Manuel Chaves, was i ...
. This led to a limited cabinet reshuffle, seeing
Luis MartÃnez Noval replacing Chaves in his ministry post on 2 May.
*On 12 January 1991,
Alfonso Guerra announced his resignation as
Deputy Prime Minister of Spain
The first deputy prime minister of Spain, officially First Vice President of the Government of Spain ( es, Vicepresidencia Primera del Gobierno de España), is the second in command to the prime minister of Spain, assuming its duties when the Pr ...
, effective on 14 January, as a result of a financial scandal involving his brother Juan Guerra and which had been ongoing for over a year; but also after a stark erosion in the relationship with Prime Minister Felipe González had seen Guerra's standing in government weaken. González used the opportunity of Guerra's resignation to arrange a major cabinet reshuffle, which was materialized in March 1991. The reshuffle saw
NarcÃs Serra
NarcÃs Serra i Serra (born 30 May 1943) is a Spanish economist and politician, serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Spain from 1991 to 1995. Born in Barcelona in 1943, he was one of the leading figures of Catalan socialism during the Spanish tr ...
becoming new Deputy Prime Minister; the incorporation of
Tomás de la Quadra-Salcedo
Tomás de la Quadra-Salcedo Fernández del Castillo (born 2 January 1946) is a Spanish politician who served as Minister of Territorial Administration from December 1982 to July 1985 and as Minister of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of ...
(
Justice
Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...
),
Josep Borrell
Josep Borrell Fontelles (; born 24 April 1947) is a Spanish politician serving as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy since 1 December 2019. A member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), he served ...
(
Public Works and Transport),
Pedro Solbes
Pedro Solbes Mira (born 31 August 1942 in Pinoso, Alicante) is a Spanish economist. He was the president of FRIDE, Madrid-based think tank.
Career
While independent in the sense of not affiliated to any party, his various ministerial roles in ...
(
Agriculture, Fisheries and Food),
Juan Manuel Eguiagaray
Juan Manuel Eguiagaray (born 1945) is a Spanish economist, academic, businessman and retired politician. He served as the minister of industry and energy from 1993 to 1996.
Early life and education
Eguiagaray was born into a family of Basque ori ...
(
Public Administrations),
Jordi Solé Tura
Jordi Solé Tura (23 May 1930 in Mollet del Vallés – 4 December 2009 in Barcelona) was a Spanish politician, jurist and one of the co-authors and "Fathers" of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 following Spain's move to democracy. (
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 ...
) and
Julián GarcÃa Valverde (
Health and Consumer Affairs); the farewell of
Enrique Múgica
Enrique Múgica Herzog (20 February 1932 – 11 April 2020) was a Spanish lawyer and politician.
An opponent of Francoist Spain, he spent three years in prison. He was one of the leaders of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE), in Franco's time. ...
,
Javier Sáenz de Cosculluela
Javier Luis Sáenz de Cosculluela (born 11 October 1944, Logroño, Spain) is a politician and Spanish lawyer. He served as a Minister in the second, third and fourth terms of Felipe González.
Biography
Sáenz studied law at the University o ...
,
Carlos Romero,
JoaquÃn Almunia
JoaquÃn Almunia Amann (born 17 June 1948) is a Spanish politician and formerly, prominent member of the European Commission. During his tenure in the two Barroso Commissions, he was European commissioner responsible for economic and monetary a ...
and
Jorge Semprún
Jorge Semprún Maura (; 10 December 1923 – 7 June 2011) was a Spanish writer and politician who lived in France most of his life and wrote primarily in French. From 1953 to 1962, during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, Semprún lived clande ...
;
Julián GarcÃa Vargas becoming new
Minister of Defence
A defence minister or minister of defence is a 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 country to country; in som ...
succeeding Serra and the split up of
José Barrionuevo
José Barrionuevo (born 13 March 1942) is a Spanish people, Spanish politician. He was the minister of interior from 1982 to 1988. He was jailed from 1998 to 2001 due to his involvement in a Dirty War, dirty war against ETA (separatist group), ET ...
's
Transport, Tourism and Communications ministry between the Public Works and Industry departments. Of the new incorporations, Jordi Solé Tura was a member from 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 Cataloniaâ ...
(PSC) since 1988, whereas Pedro Solbes was an
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
.
*On 10 January 1992, Julián GarcÃa Valverde submitted his resignation as Minister of Health and Consumer Affairs as a result of alleged
embezzlement and
tax fraud
Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the taxp ...
accusations during Valverde's time as president of
Renfe between 1985 and 1991. Felipe González accepted Valverde's resignation on 13 January and appointed
José Antonio Griñán
José Antonio Griñán MartÃnez (born 7 June 1946) is a Spanish politician. He was the chairman of the centre-left Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), and from 23 April 2009 until 7 September 2013 he held the position of President of the R ...
as a replacement.
*On 16 June 1992, Felipe González accepted
Francisco Fernández Ordóñez
Francisco Fernández Ordóñez (22 June 1930 – 7 August 1992) was a Spanish politician who was the minister of foreign affairs in the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) government of Felipe González from 1985 until shortly before his de ...
's resignation as
Minister of Foreign Affairs
A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...
because of a deteriorating health resulting from the
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
affection he had been developing since 1988. Ordóñez had been on
leave of absence
The labour law concept of leave, specifically paid leave or, in some countries' long-form, a leave of absence, is an authorised prolonged absence from work, for any reason authorised by the workplace. When people "take leave" in this way, they are ...
since 31 May as a result of a physical impossibility to keep on his duties as minister, being replaced in his post by
Javier Solana
Francisco Javier Solana de Madariaga (; born 14 July 1942) is a Spanish physicist and PSOE politician. After serving in the Spanish government as Foreign Affairs Minister under Felipe González (1992–1995) and as the Secretary General of NA ...
on 24 June; in turn, Solana was replaced in the
Education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...
portfolio by
Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba. Fernández Ordóñez died on 7 August 1992, only a month and a half after his resignation.
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 i ...
, the
deputy prime minister
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 17
ministries, including the ministry for the
spokesperson of the Government.
The number of ministries was reduced to 16 after the
Transport, Tourism and Communications portfolio was split and merged into the
Public Works and Urbanism and
Industry and Energy ministries in March 1991.
The office of the deputy prime minister was left vacant from January to March 1991.
Departmental structure
Felipe González's third 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 governmen ...
*()
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, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives.
Means of informa ...
See also
*
Governments of Felipe González
Notes
References
External links
Governments. Juan Carlos I (20.11.1975 ...) CCHS-CSIC (in Spanish).
Governments of Spain 1982–1996. Ministers of Felipe González Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish).
LluÃs Belenes i RodrÃguez History Page (in Spanish).
{{DEFAULTSORT:González government 3
1989 establishments in Spain
1993 disestablishments in Spain
Cabinets established in 1989
Cabinets disestablished in 1993
Council of Ministers (Spain)