The second government of

José María Aznar José María Alfredo Aznar López (; born 25 February 1953) is a Spanish politician who was the prime minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He led the People's Party (Spain), People's Party (PP), the dominant centre-right political party in Spai ...

was formed on 28 April 2000, following the latter's election as

Prime Minister of Spain The prime minister of Spain, officially president of the Government (), is the head of government of Spain. The prime minister nominates the Spanish government departments, ministers and chairs the Council of Ministers (Spain), Council of Mini ...

by the

Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies () is the lower house of the , Spain's legislative branch, the upper house being the Senate of Spain, Senate. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. Congress has ...

on 26 April and his swearing-in on 27 April, as a result of the People's Party (PP) emerging as the largest parliamentary force at the

2000 Spanish general election A general election was held in Spain on Sunday, 12 March 2000, to elect the members of the 7th . All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 259 seats in the Senate. At four years since the previous election, ...

. It succeeded the first Aznar government and was 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 ...

from 28 April 2000 to 18 April 2004, a total of days, or . The cabinet comprised members of the PP and a number of independents. It was automatically dismissed on 15 March 2004 as a consequence of the 2004 general election, but remained in acting capacity until the next government was sworn in.

Investiture

Cabinet changes

Aznar's second government saw a number of cabinet changes during its tenure: *On 28 February 2001,

Jaime Mayor Oreja Jaime Mayor Oreja (born 12 July 1951) is a former Spanish conservative politician of the People's Party. He served as member of the Basque Parliament, of the Spanish Parliament, and of the European Parliament, as well as being Spanish Ministe ...

stepped down 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 ...

in order to run as the People's Party (PP)'s leading candidate for

Lehendakari The President of the Basque Government (, ), usually known in the Basque language as the Lehendakari (, ), is the head of government of the Basque Autonomous Community. The lehendakari leads the executive branch of the regional government. T ...

in the

2001 Basque regional election A regional election was held in the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country on Sunday, 13 May 2001, to elect the 7th Basque Parliament, Parliament of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community. All 75 seats in the Parl ...

. He was succeeded in his office by

Mariano Rajoy Mariano Rajoy Brey (, ; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a 2018 vote of no confidence in the government of Mariano Rajoy, vote of no confidence ousted his government. A m ...

, who in turn was replaced in the

Presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

ministry by

Juan José Lucas Juan José Lucas Giménez (born 10 May 1944) is a Spanish attorney, professor and politician in the People's Party.Quién es quién: sus señorías los diputados Manuel Ángel Menéndez Gijón, Manuel Ángel Menéndez, Ignacio Fontes – 2002 ...

. *On 10 July 2002, a major cabinet reshuffle saw Ana de Palacio replacing

Josep Piqué Josep Piqué Camps (21 February 1955 – 6 April 2023) was a Spanish politician of the conservative People's Party (PP). He served in ministerial departments under the José María Aznar government. He also helmed the People's Party of Catalo ...

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

, who in turn replaced Anna Birulés as Minister of Science and Technology. Rajoy was reassigned the Ministry of the Presidency as well as the functions of Spokesperson of the Government, with

Ángel Acebes Ángel Acebes Paniagua (born 3 July 1958) is a Spanish politician. Early life and education Acebes holds a degree in law from the University of Salamanca. Political career Acebes has been a member of parliament for the right-wing People's Pa ...

being appointed for the Interior portfolio.

José María Michavila José María Michavila Núñez (Madrid, Spain, 28 March 1960) is a lawyer, entrepreneur, professor and former Spanish politician for the People's Party (PP). He is the founding partner of the law firm "MA ABOGADOS" and also of the wealth advisory ...

filled the vacancy left by Acebes in the

Ministry 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 ...

, whereas President of the Valencian Government

Eduardo Zaplana Eduardo Andrés Julio Zaplana Hernández-Soro (born 3 April 1956) is a Spanish politician who served as Minister of Labour and Social Issues from 2002 to 2004, President of the Valencian Government from 1995 to 2002 and Spokesperson of the Pa ...

replaced Juan Carlos Aparicio as Minister of Labour and Social Affairs. Javier Arenas replaced

Jesús Posada Jesús Posada Moreno (born 4 April 1945) is the former President of the Congress of Deputies, the lower house of the Spanish Cortes Generales. He has worked as a civil engineer and economist. From 1979 to 1981 he served as civil governor of the ...

as Minister of Public Administrations and Ana Pastor replaced Celia Villalobos in Health and Consumer Affairs. Aznar attempted to draw

Convergence and Union Convergence and Union (, CiU; ) was a Catalan nationalist electoral alliance in Catalonia, Spain. It was a federation of two constituent parties, the larger Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) and its smaller counterpart, the Democratic ...

(CiU) into a coalition government, with little success. *On 3 March 2003,

Elvira Rodríguez María Elvira Rodríguez Herrer (Madrid, 15 May 1949) is a Spanish economist and politician. She was the president of the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores, a financial regulator, between 2012 and 2016. Previously, as a member of the Peop ...

replaced

Jaume Matas Jaume Matas Palou (; born 5 October 1956 in Palma, Majorca) is a Spanish politician. He was President of the Balearic Islands The president of the Balearic Islands is the head of government of the Balearic Islands, one of the 17 autonomous ...

as Minister of Environment, who stepped down in order to run as the PP leading candidate for

President of the Balearic Islands The president of the Balearic Islands is the head of government of the Balearic Islands, one of the 17 autonomous communities of Spain, while the monarch Felipe VI remains the head of state as King of Spain The monarchy of Spain or Span ...

in the

2003 Balearic regional election A regional election was held in the Balearic Islands on Sunday, 25 May 2003, to elect the 6th Parliament of the Balearic Islands, Parliament of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community. All 59 seats in the Parliament were up for e ...

. *On 4 September 2003,

and Mariano Rajoy were dismissed from the government as a result of being nominated as the PP leading candidates for the 2003 Catalan regional and

2004 Spanish general election A general election was held in Spain on Sunday, 14 March 2004, to elect the members of the 8th . All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 259 seats in the Senate. Incumbent prime minister José María Azna ...

s, respectively. This prompted a new reshuffle which saw

Rodrigo Rato Rodrigo de Rato y Figaredo (born 18 March 1949) is a businessman and politician who served in the Council of Ministers of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He also served as the ninth managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2004 ...

being promoted to First Deputy Prime Minister, Arenas becoming new Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidency, Zaplana being assigned the functions of Spokesperson of the Government, Julia García-Valdecasas becoming new Minister of Public Administrations and Juan Costa filling Piqué's vacancy in the Science and Technology ministry.

Council of Ministers

The

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

was structured into the offices for 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 two

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

, 15

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. Until July 2002, the latter's officeholder had the rank of

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

and an office of its own.

Departmental structure

José María Aznar's second 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 a ...

*()

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

*() Autonomous agency *()

Military 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 d ...

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 obj ...

Notes

References

External links

Governments. Juan Carlos I (20.11.1975 ...)
CCHS-CSIC (in Spanish).
Governments of Spain 1996–2004. Ministers of José María Aznar
Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish).

Lluís Belenes i Rodríguez History Page (in Spanish). {{DEFAULTSORT:Aznar government 2 2000 establishments in Spain 2004 disestablishments in Spain Cabinets established in 2000 Cabinets disestablished in 2004 Council of Ministers (Spain)