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Ministry of Defence (Spain)

Coordinates:40°27′21″N3°41′27″W/ 40.45587°N 3.69077°W/40.45587; -3.69077
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Ministry of Defence
Ministerio de Defensa
Logotype

Main headquarters
Agency overview
FormedNovember 30, 1714;309 years ago(1714-11-30)(as Secretary of the Universal Dispatch of War)
July 4, 1977 (as Ministry of Defence)
TypeMinistry
JurisdictionGovernment of Spain
HeadquartersPaseo de la Castellana,109
28071Madrid
40°27′21″N3°41′27″W/ 40.45587°N 3.69077°W/40.45587; -3.69077
Employees153,227 (2021)[note 1][1]
Annual budget€14.06 billion, 2024[2]
Minister responsible
Agency executives
Websitewww.defensa.gob.es

TheMinistry of Defence(MINISDEF) is thedepartmentof theGovernment of Spainresponsible for planning, developing and carrying out the general guidelines of the Government about the defence policy and the managing of themilitary administration.It is the administrative and executive body of theSpanish Armed Forces.[3]

According to theConstitutionof 1978, theMonarchis theCommander in Chiefof theSpanish military.He can declare war or conclude peace with authorization of theCortes Generales,provided this act is countersigned by thePrime Minister.[4]

The Ministry of Defense is headed by the Minister of Defence, aCabinetmember who depends directly from thePrime Minister.Beneath the Ministry of Defense are five subordinate principal departments: the Armed Forces headed by theChief of the Defence Staff(JEMAD) which is divided in three military branches led by theChief of Staff of the Army(JEME), theChief of Staff of the Navy(AJEMA) and theChief of Staff of the Air Force(JEMA); the Secretariat of State for Defence (headed by theSecretary 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, theNational Intelligence Center(CNI) is subordinated to the Ministry of Defence.

The current holder of the Ministry isMargarita Robles.

History

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See also:Military history of SpainandSecretary of State (Ancient Regime in Spain)

Primitive military administration

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Since the first origins ofSpain,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 itsCouncil of Statewhich was divided in different sections dedicated to advise the King in the different areas of government.

Single and double secretariat

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On July 11, 1705,King Philip Vcreated a Secretariat for war and treasury matters, called Secretariat of the Dispatch of War and Treasury mainly because of theWar of Succession.[5]Once the war was over, in 1714 the Administration was reformed and two secretariats appeared: one dedicated to theArmycalled Secretariat of the Dispatch of War and another to theNavycalled 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 thePeninsular Spain,theCanariesand theBalearicsbecause the Secretariat of the Dispatch of the Indies assumed the responsibilities on the naval forces in the rest of theEmpire.It wasn't until 1790 that this Secretariat also assumed the competences on the Overseas Navy when the Indies Secretariat was suppressed.[6]The same did the Secretariat of War with the competencies on the land forces in the Indies.

Ministries

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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 andMinistry of the Navywere officially renamed.

Since theConstitution of 1812,which creates theSecretary of State and of the Dispatchof the Overseas Government, until the creation of theMinistry of Overseasin 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 theMinistry of the Interior.In 1851 an Overseas Council and an Overseas Directorate were created under theOffice of the Prime Minister.[7]

Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado,first Defence Minister of the democratic period.

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 theMinistry of Statein 1854, it is added to theDevelopmentin 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.[7]

First attempt and final unification

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At the beginning of the 20th century, theAir Forcestarted to make its firsts steps and at the very start they were just the air branch of theArmyand later it was also created a Naval Air Force subordinated to theNavy.

During theCivil War,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, theFrancoist regimedivided again the former Ministry of National Defence intro three ministries: Ministry of the Army, Ministry of the Navy and the newMinistry 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.[8]The new military organization was established in 1984 with theJEMADas the Chief Operative of the Armed Forces and thePrime Minister(through the Defence Minister) asde factoleader of the Armed Forces. TheMonarchremained as the symbolic commander-in-chief and the position ofSecretary of State for Defencewas created too.[9]

In 2018, theNational Intelligence Centrereturned to the department's structure,[10]andPaz Esteban Lópezwas appointed its first femaledirectorin 2020.[11]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 Defense Industry was created from some of the responsibilities of the Directorate-General for Armament and Materiel.[12]

Structure

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Margarita Robles, current Minister of Defence

The Department is organized as follows:[3]

  • TheArmed Forces
  • TheSecretariat of State for Defence
    • The Directorate-General for Strategy and Innovation of the Defense 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
  • TheGeneral Secretariat for Defence Policy
    • The Directorate-General for Defence Policy
    • The Division for Security and Defense Studies and Coordination
  • TheUndersecretariat 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
    • TheOffice of the Comptroller General of the Defence
    • The Inspectorate-General for Defence Health
    • The Military Prison of Alcalá de Henares
  • TheDirectorate for Institutional Communication of Defense

TheCivil Guarddepends 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

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Chain of Command

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KingPhilip VIis the currentCaptain General of the Armed Forces.

The Chain of Command of the military is regulated in the National Defence Organic Act of 2005.[13]

Like theConstitution,the law recognizes theMonarchas the supreme commander of theArmed Forces.TheGovernmentis the body in charge of establishing the defense policy as well as control of the military administration. ThePrime Ministeris 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. TheChief 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.

TheParliamentis 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, theCongressis 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.

  1. TheKing
  2. ThePrime Minister
  3. The Minister of Defence
  4. TheChief of the Defence Staff
  5. TheChief of Staff of the Army,theChief of Staff of the Navyand theChief of Staff of the Air Force
  6. 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

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Buenavista Palace, headquarters of the Ministry of War since 1847 and of the Ministry of Defence from 1977 to 1981.

The first military departments —WarandNavy— were headquartered at the royal residence, first in theRoyal Alcázarfrom 1714 to 1734, briefly in theRoyal Palace of Buen Retirosince 1734 and in theRoyal Palacewhen its construction was finished. In 1826, due to the lack of space in the Royal Palace, they relocated to thePalace of Marqués de Grimaldi.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 theMinistry of the Airin 1939, the same thing happened and by the 1950s the new Ministry already occupied its ownpalacein Moncloa Square.

Already during thedemocratic transition,in 1977 the new Ministry of Defense 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 109Paseo de la Castellana(belonging to theMinistry of Cultureand that previously had been the headquarters of theMinistry of Information and Tourism) 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

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Main article:List of ministers of defence (Spain)

References

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  1. ^Office of the Comptroller General of the State(2021).Personnel at the service of the State Public Sector(PDF).pp. 21 and 100.{{cite book}}:Unknown parameter|agency=ignored (help)
  2. ^"2023 State Budget"(PDF).www.boe.es.1 January 2023.Retrieved8 January2023.
  3. ^ab"Royal Decree 1399/2018, of November 23, by which the basic organic structure of the Ministry of Defense is developed".boe.es.Retrieved2019-04-18.
  4. ^"Royal Decree 415/2016, 3 November, for restructuring the ministerial departments"(PDF).2016.
  5. ^"Corporate Body - Secretaría de Estado y del Despacho de Guerra y Hacienda (España)".PARES(in European Spanish).Retrieved2018-09-22.
  6. ^"Corporate Body - Secretaría de Estado y del Despacho de Marina (España)".PARES(in European Spanish).Retrieved2018-09-22.
  7. ^ab"Corporate Body - Ministerio de Ultramar (España)".PARES.Retrieved2019-04-18.
  8. ^"Royal Decree 2723/1977, of November 2, by which the Ministry of Defense is structured organically and functionally".boe.es.Retrieved2019-04-18.
  9. ^"Royal Decree 135/1984, of January 25, by which the Ministry of Defense is restructured".boe.es.pp. 2618–2622.Retrieved2019-04-18.
  10. ^"Pedro Sánchez vuelve a poner al CNI bajo el control del ministro de Defensa".elDiario.es(in Spanish). 2018-06-01.Retrieved2024-09-11.
  11. ^Cué, Carlos E.; González, Miguel (2020-01-31)."El Gobierno confirma a Paz Esteban como la primera mujer directora del CNI".El País(in Spanish).ISSN1134-6582.Retrieved2024-09-11.
  12. ^InfoDefensa, Revista Defensa."Defensa crea una nueva dirección general para potenciar la industria y ganar peso en los programas de la UE y la OTAN".Infodefensa - Noticias de defensa, industria, seguridad, armamento, ejércitos y tecnología de la defensa(in Spanish).Retrieved2024-09-11.
  13. ^"Organic Law 5/2005, of November 17, of the National Defence".www.boe.es(in Spanish).Retrieved2018-09-22.

Notes

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  1. ^13,946 civil employees
    139,281 military officers

See also

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