Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Spain)

Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
Secretario de Estado de Asuntos Exteriores
Coat of Arms used by the Government
Incumbent
Diego Martínez Belío
since 20 December 2023
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Secretariat of State for Foreign Affairs
StyleThe Most Excellent (formal)
Mr. Secretary of State (informal)
AbbreviationSEAEX
Reports toThe Foreign Minister
NominatorThe Foreign Minister
AppointerThe Monarch
Formation27 April 1979; 46 years ago (27 April 1979)
First holderCarlos Robles Piquer
Websiteexteriores.gob.es

The secretary of state for foreign and global affairs (SEAEX) is a senior minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of the Government of Spain. Although he or she has the same rank as the other secretaries of state of the Department, the SEAEX is considered the second-in-command to the minister.[1][2][3]

The secretary of state for foreign affairs is responsible for assisting the minister in the planning of the foreign policy guidelines and its subsequent implementation. It is also responsible for the foreign policy regarding Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia —including the Middle East— and Oceanic countries.[4]

Finally, it also coordinates the foreign policy with respect to international organizations —primarily the United Nations and others related to international security— except for those that fall under the jurisdiction of other secretaries of state. This also includes issues like terrorism, security, and peacekeeping operations, non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament and human rights.[4]

History

The Secretariat of State for Foreign Affairs was created in 1979 as a body of «general competence» destinated to help the Foreign Minister in his duties.[5] This body was suppressed in 1982[6] and its competences were re-assumed by the Minister.

In 1985, the department was reactivated with the level of General Secretariat and was called General Secretariat for Foreign Policy and the Secretary General had the rank of Under Secretary.[7] In 1996, with the change of government, the General Secretariat was subordinated to a new Secretariat of State called Secretariat of State for Foreign Policy and for the European Union, assuming the coordinations competences of the General Secretariat and the competences of the Secretariat of State for the European Union. This was reverted again in 2000 when the secretariat of state was split in two.[8]

In 2004, the new government gave the competencies over Ibero-America to this Secretariat of State that before belonged to the Secretariat of State for International Cooperation but in 2008 this competences were assumed by a new Secretariat of State for Ibero-America and were re-assumed again in the very late 2010 under the name of Secretariat of State for Foreign and Ibero-American Affairs.[9]

With the Rajoy government, the Secretariat of State established its current structure, with the exception of everything regarding Ibero-America and the Caribbean, which was established in 2020.

Names

  • Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1979-1982).
  • Competences assumed by the Minister between 1982 and 1985.
  • General Secretariat for Foreign Policy (1985-1996).
  • Secretary of State for Foreign Policy and for the European Union (1996-2000).
  • Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (2000-2004).
  • Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Ibero-America (2004-2008).
  • Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (2008-2010).
  • Secretary of State for Foreign and Ibero-American Affairs. (2010-2011).
  • Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (2011–2020)
  • Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and for Ibero-America and the Caribbean (2020–2021)
  • Secretary of State for Foreign and Global Affairs (2021–present)

Structure

The Secretariat of State is composed of six departments, all of them run by a director-general:[4]

  • The Directorate-General for Foreign Policy and Security.
    Descried as the "Policy Director", it assits the secretary of state in the coordination of the other directorates-general and implements the secretary of state's instructions. It also coordinates Spanish participation at the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and in other international organizations focused on international security, terrorism, non-proliferation and disarmament.
  • The Directorate-General for the United Nations, International Organizations and Human Rights.
    It's responsible for coordinating Spanish policy regarding the United Nations and all its bodies, as well as those focused on human rights, democracy and rule of law, environment and climate change. It also assits and promotes the participation of Spanish nationals as international civil servants in this organizations.
  • The Directorate-General for the Maghreb, the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
    It's the department in charge of designing and implementing Spain's foreign policy regarding the Maghreb, the south Mediterranean countries and the Middle East, the promotion of bilateral relations with the countries it encompasses and the follow-up of the initiatives and multilateral forums of the geographic area of its competence.
  • The Directorate-General for Africa.
    It's the department in charge of the rest of the African continent, specifically Sub-Saharan Africa, promoting bilateral relations with the countries it encompasses and the follow-up of the initiatives and multilateral forums of the geographic area of its competence.
  • The Directorate-General for North America, Eastern Europe, Asia and Pacific.
    It's the department in charge of the proposal and execution of the foreign policy of Spain in its corresponding geographical area, the promotion of bilateral relations with the countries it encompasses, the follow-up of the initiatives and multilateral forums of the geographic area of its competence and the impulse to the Foundations Council Spain-United States, Spain-China, Spain-Japan, Spain-India and Spain-Australia.

List of secretaries of state

No. Image Name Term of Office Minister(s) serving under Prime Minister
Began Ended Duration
1º Carlos Robles Piquer 27 April 1979 24 October 1981 2 years, 180 days Marcelino Oreja Aguirre
José Pedro Pérez-Llorca 		Adolfo Suárez
Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo
2º Gabriel Mañueco de Lecea 6 November 1981 21 October 1982 349 days José Pedro Pérez-Llorca Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo
3º Ramón de Miguel y Egea 14 May 1996 6 May 2000 3 years, 358 days Abel Matutes José María Aznar
4º Miquel Nadal Segalá 6 May 2000 20 July 2002 2 years, 75 days Josep Piqué
5º Ramón Gil-Casares 20 July 2002 20 April 2004 1 year, 275 days Ana Palacio
6º Bernardino León 20 April 2004 22 April 2008 4 years, 2 days Miguel Ángel Moratinos José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
7º Ángel Lossada Torres-Quevedo 22 April 2008 27 July 2010 2 years, 96 days
8º Juan Pablo de Laiglesia y González de Peredo 27 July 2010 6 November 2010 102 days Trinidad Jiménez
9º Juan Antonio Yáñez-Barnuevo García 6 November 2010 24 December 2011 1 year, 48 days
10º Gonzalo de Benito Secades 24 December 2011 15 November 2014 2 years, 326 days José Manuel García-Margallo Mariano Rajoy
11º Ignacio Ybáñez Rubio 15 November 2014 21 January 2017 2 years, 67 days
12º Ildefonso Castro López 21 January 2017 19 June 2018 1 year, 149 days Alfonso Dastis
13º Fernando Martín Valenzuela Marzo 19 June 2018 5 February 2020 1 year, 231 days Josep Borrell Pedro Sánchez
14º Cristina Gallach 5 February 2020 21 July 2021 1 year, 166 days Arancha González Laya
15º Ángeles Moreno Bau 21 July 2021 20 December 2023 2 years, 152 days José Manuel Albares
16º Diego Martínez Belío 20 December 2023 Incumbent 2 years, 56 days

See also

References

  1. ^ González, Miguel (2021-03-28). "La 'número dos' de Exteriores visita por sorpresa Venezuela". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  2. ^ "Ángeles Moreno, número dos de Exteriores, será la nueva embajadora en Washington". Diario ABC (in Spanish). 2023-12-15. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  3. ^ Press, Europa (2023-12-18). "Albares nombra a su jefe de gabinete 'número dos' de Exteriores y para la UE elige a miembro del equipo de Von der Leyen". www.europapress.es. Retrieved 2025-10-20.
  4. ^ a b c Ministry for Digital Transformation and Civil Service (29 November 2024). "Royal Decree 1184/2024, of November 28, by which the basic organic structure of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation is developed". Official State Gazette (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 October 2025.
  5. ^ "BOE.es - Documento BOE-A-1979-11350". boe.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-11-20.
  6. ^ "Royal Decree-Law 22/1982, of December 7, on measures of Administrative Reforms". www.boe.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-11-20.
  7. ^ "Royal Decree 1485/1985, of August 28, which determines the basic organizational structure of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the autonomous agency of the Department". boe.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-11-20.
  8. ^ "Royal Decree 1473/2000, of August 4, by which the basic organic structure of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is developed". boe.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-11-20.
  9. ^ "Royal Decree 1748/2010, of December 23, by which the basic organic structure of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation is developed". boe.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-11-20.
allikas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secretary_of_State_for_Foreign_Affairs_(Spain)