Deputy Prime Minister of Spain

The first deputy prime minister of Spain, officially First Vice President of the Government of Spain (Spanish: Vicepresidencia Primera del Gobierno de España), is the second in command to the prime minister of Spain, assuming the prime ministers duties when the prime minister is absent or incapable of exercising power. When there is only one deputy prime minister in the government, the office is referred to without the cardinal number: deputy prime minister of Spain, officially Vice President of the Government of Spain (Spanish: Vicepresidencia Pimera del Gobierno de España).

Deputy Prime Minister of Spain/First Deputy Prime Minister of Spain
Vicepresidencia del Gobierno de España/Vicepresidencia Primera del Gobierno de España
Coat of arms of Spain
Incumbent
Nadia Calviño
since 12 July 2021
Government of Spain
Council of Ministers
StyleExcelentísimo/a Señor/a
Member ofCabinet
ResidenceSemillas Building, Palacio de la Moncloa
SeatMadrid, Spain
NominatorThe Prime Minister
AppointerThe Monarch
Countersigned by the Prime Minister of Spain
Term lengthNo fixed term
No term limits are imposed on the office.
Constituting instrumentConstitution of 1978
Formation3 October 1840 (1840-10-03)
First holderJoaquín María Ferrer
Unofficial namesDeputy Prime Minister of Spain
Salary€77,992 p.a.[1]

The first deputy prime minister is usually handpicked by the Prime Minister from the members of the Cabinet and appointed by the monarch before whom they take an oath. The headquarters of the Deputy Prime Minister's Office is the Semillas Building, in La Moncloa Complex.

History

The office of Deputy Prime Minister, like the premiership, dates back to the 19th century. A Royal Decree of 1840 appoints Joaquín María Ferrer as Vice President of the Council of Ministers.[2][3] However the office was not used again until 1925 when Miguel Primo de Rivera transitioned from a military to a civil government, reestablishing the Council of Ministers, the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and re-creating the Vice Presidency. The vice president's function was to replace the president in cases of absence or illness. This vice-president, said article 3 of the Royal Decree, was appointed by the president from among the members of the Council of Ministers.[4] The Vice Presidency was vested in the Under Secretary of the Interior, Severiano Martínez Anido, who combined the position with that of Interior Minister.[5]

With the resignation of Primo de Rivera and the fall of the monarchy, the Second Republic was established in Spain, which did not initially consider a deputy prime minister necessary. However, in December 1933,[6] Prime Minister Lerroux appointed Diego Martínez Barrio Vice President of the Council of Ministers, a position from which he resigned only three months later.[7]

The Law of January 30, 1938, changed the title to Vice Presidency of the Government and, with the formation of the first Franco government, this position was granted to general Francisco Gómez-Jordana Sousa. From 1938 to 1981 the position was occupied by military officials, with the exception of the vice presidents Torcuato Fernández Miranda (1973-1973) and José García Hernández (1974-1975). Since 1981, with a democracy markedly established in society, Prime Minister Calvo-Sotelo appointed a civilian as Deputy, definitively separating the military power from the executive power, a situation that remains today.

Responsibilities

The Deputy Prime Minister of Spain is responsible for:[8]

  • Advising the Prime Minister.
  • Supporting the Cabinet, the Government Delegated Committees and the General Commission of Secretaries of State and Undersecretaries.
  • Supporting the Prime Minister, specially exercising the responsibilities in relation to preparing and tracking the Government Programme.
  • Interministerial coordination given by current laws, the Government or the Prime Minister.
  • Supporting the Government with its relationships with the Cortes Generales.
  • Preparing, carrying out and tracking the legislative programme of the Government and specially its parliamentary processing.
  • Material supporting, economic, financial, personal and budgetary management and in general whatever responsibilities needed by the Prime Minister and the Office of the Prime Minister bodies.
  • Being the Secretary at the Council of Ministers.

List of officeholders
See also: List of deputy prime ministers of Spain

See also

References
  1. EFE (14 January 2019). "Pedro Sánchez percibirá un salario de 82.978 euros". El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  2. "Royal Decree, by which the Queen Regent appointed Joaquin Maria Ferrer Vice President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Finance" (PDF). 13 October 1840.
  3. "Minutes of the Cortes - March 1841". 19 March 1841.
  4. "Royal decree suppressing the positions of President, Members and Secretary of the Military Directorate; restore the positions of President of the Council of Ministers and of the Ministers of the Crown" (PDF). 4 December 1925.
  5. "Royal decree appointing Mr. Severiano Martínez Anido, Minister of the Interior, as Vice President of the Council of Ministers" (PDF). 4 December 1925.
  6. "Decree appointing Vice President of the Council of Ministers to Mr. Diego Martínez Barrio" (PDF).
  7. "Decree admitting the resignation of Diego Martínez Barrio to the position of Vice President of the Council of Ministers" (PDF).
  8. Royal Decree 199/2012, 23 January, for explaining the structure of the Ministry of the Presidency and changing the Royal Decree 1887/2011, 30 December, for establishing the structure of the ministerial departments (in Spanish)
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