The third government of Adolfo Suárez was formed on 6 April 1979, following the latter's election as prime minister of Spain by the Congress of Deputies on 30 March and his swearing-in on 2 April, as a result of the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) emerging as the largest parliamentary force at the 1979 Spanish general election. It succeeded the second Suárez government and was the government of Spain from 6 April 1979 to 27 February 1981, a total of days, or .
Suárez's third cabinet was the first to be appointed under the Spanish Constitution of 1978, and was an all-UCD government plus two military officers (Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado and Antonio Ibáñez Freire); subsequent reshuffles in 1980 seeing would see the incorporation of a number of independents. It was automatically dismissed on 29 January 1981 as a consequence of Adolfo Suárez's resignation as prime minister, but remained in acting capacity until the next government was sworn in.
Investiture
InvestitureCongress of Deputies Ballot → 30 March 1979 Required majority → 176 out of 350 Sources
Votes of confidence/no confidence
Motion of no confidenceCongress of Deputies Ballot → 30 May 1980 Required majority → 176 out of 350 Sources
Motion of confidenceCongress of Deputies Ballot → 18 September 1980 Required majority → Simple Sources
Cabinet changes Suárez's third government saw a number of cabinet changes during its tenure:
On 17 January 1980, Manuel Clavero resigned as Minister of Culture over political differences with the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) on the issue of the Andalusian autonomy and his party's stance on the 28 February 1980 autonomy initiative referendum. He was replaced in the post by Ricardo de la Cierva, who was sworn into office on the following day. Suárez took the opportunity of Clavero's resignation to make another cabinet change, by transferring some of the powers from Rafael Arias-Salgado's department to José Pedro Pérez-Llorca's Ministry of the Presidency. On 3 May 1980, what had initially been planned as a minor cabinet readjustment intended to create a third deputy prime minister office for regional affairs under José Pedro Pérez-Llorca turned into a major reshuffle as a result of power struggles within the UCD: Antonio Ibáñez Freire (Interior), Carlos Bustelo (Industry and Energy) and Juan Antonio García Díez (Trade and Tourism) were replaced by Juan José Rosón, Ignacio Bayón and Luis Gámir, respectively. Pérez-Llorca's new appointment was limited to the Ministry of Territorial Administration, replacing Antonio Fontán, whereas Pérez-Llorca's former presidency department was reassigned to Rafael Arias-Salgado and its competences split into two additional deputy ministries headed by Sebastián Martín-Retortillo (Responsible for Public Administration) and Juan Antonio Ortega y Díaz-Ambrona (Responsible for Legislative Coordination). Salvador Sánchez-Terán was moved from Transport and Communications—which was assigned to José Luis Álvarez—to Labour (replacing Rafael Calvo Ortega) and the post of deputy minister held by Joaquín Garrigues Walker was abolished. The last cabinet reshuffle under Adolfo Suárez took place on 9 September 1980, on the eve of a motion of confidence called by Suárez upon his own government scheduled for 18 September, aimed at strengthening his stand within the UCD by having the most prominent figures from the party's ideological factions represented in the government. Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo replaced Fernando Abril Martorell as Second Deputy Prime Minister, Marcelino Oreja stepped down in favour of José Pedro Pérez-Llorca as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Íñigo Cavero was moved from Justice—assigned to Francisco Fernández Ordóñez—to Culture. Further changes were seen in Education (from José Manuel Otero to Juan Antonio Ortega y Díaz-Ambrona), Labour (Sánchez-Terán was replaced by Félix Manuel Pérez Miyares) and Calvo-Sotelo's vacant ministry, Relations with the European Communities (to Eduard Punset). The reshuffle also saw the recovery of some members from former cabinets, such as Alberto Oliart (in Health and Social Security), Juan Antonio García Díez (in Economy and Trade), Rodolfo Martín Villa (in Territorial Administration) and Pío Cabanillas Gallas (as deputy minister to the Prime Minister). Meanwhile, the deputy ministry for Legislative Coordination was abolished.
Council of Ministers The Council of Ministers was structured into the offices for the prime minister, the two deputy prime ministers and 21 ministries, including a number of deputy ministers without portfolio. This number would be maintained in the May 1980 reshuffle with some changes within the deputy ministries, one of which would be abolished in the September 1980 reshuffle.
← Suárez III Government →(6 April 1979 – 27 February 1981) Portfolio Name Party Took office Left office Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez UCD 2 April 1979 26 February 1981 First Deputy Prime Minister,in charge of the Coordination of the National Security and Defence Affairs Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado Military 6 April 1979 27 February 1981 Second Deputy Prime Minister,in charge of the Coordination of Economic Affairs Fernando Abril Martorell UCD 6 April 1979 9 September 1980 Minister of Foreign Affairs Marcelino Oreja UCD 6 April 1979 9 September 1980 Minister of Justice Íñigo Cavero UCD 6 April 1979 9 September 1980 Minister of Defence Agustín Rodríguez Sahagún UCD 6 April 1979 27 February 1981 Minister of Finance Jaime García Añoveros UCD 6 April 1979 27 February 1981 Minister of the Interior Antonio Ibáñez Freire Military 6 April 1979 3 May 1980 Minister of Public Works and Urbanism Jesús Sancho Rof UCD 6 April 1979 27 February 1981 Minister of Education José Manuel Otero UCD 6 April 1979 9 September 1980 Minister of Labour Rafael Calvo Ortega UCD 6 April 1979 3 May 1980 Minister of Industry and Energy Carlos Bustelo UCD 6 April 1979 3 May 1980 Minister of Agriculture Jaime Lamo de Espinosa UCD 6 April 1979 27 February 1981 Minister of Trade and Tourism Juan Antonio García Díez UCD 6 April 1979 3 May 1980 Minister of the Presidency José Pedro Pérez-Llorca UCD 6 April 1979 3 May 1980 Minister of Economy José Luis Leal UCD 6 April 1979 9 September 1980 Minister of Transport and Communications Salvador Sánchez-Terán UCD 6 April 1979 3 May 1980 Minister of Health and Social Security Juan Rovira Tarazona UCD 6 April 1979 9 September 1980 Minister of Culture Manuel Clavero UCD 6 April 1979 17 January 1980 Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister, without portfolio Joaquín Garrigues Walker UCD 6 April 1979 3 May 1980 Minister for Relations with the European Communities, without portfolio Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo UCD 6 April 1979 9 September 1980 Deputy Minister for Relations with the Cortes, without portfolio Rafael Arias-Salgado UCD 6 April 1979 18 January 1980 Minister of Territorial Administration Antonio Fontán UCD 6 April 1979 3 May 1980 Minister of Universities and Research Luis González Seara UCD 6 April 1979 27 February 1981 Changes January 1980 Portfolio Name Party Took office Left office Minister of Culture Ricardo de la Cierva UCD 18 January 1980 9 September 1980 Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister, without portfolio Rafael Arias-Salgado UCD 18 January 1980 3 May 1980 Changes May 1980 Portfolio Name Party Took office Left office Minister of the Interior Juan José Rosón UCD 3 May 1980 27 February 1981 Minister of Labour Salvador Sánchez-Terán UCD 3 May 1980 9 September 1980 Minister of Industry and Energy Ignacio Bayón Independent 3 May 1980 27 February 1981 Minister of Trade and Tourism Luis Gámir UCD 3 May 1980 9 September 1980 Minister of the Presidency Rafael Arias-Salgado UCD 3 May 1980 27 February 1981 Minister of Transport and Communications José Luis Álvarez UCD 3 May 1980 27 February 1981 Minister of Territorial Administration José Pedro Pérez-Llorca UCD 3 May 1980 9 September 1980 Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister, without portfolio,in charge of Public Administration Sebastián Martín-Retortillo UCD 3 May 1980 27 February 1981 Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister, without portfolio,in charge of Legislative Coordination Juan Antonio Ortega y Díaz-Ambrona UCD 3 May 1980 9 September 1980 Changes September 1980 Portfolio Name Party Took office Left office Second Deputy Prime Minister,in charge of the Coordination of Economic Affairs Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo UCD 9 September 1980 27 February 1981 Minister of Foreign Affairs José Pedro Pérez-Llorca UCD 9 September 1980 27 February 1981 Minister of Justice Francisco Fernández Ordóñez UCD 9 September 1980 27 February 1981 Minister of Education Juan Antonio Ortega y Díaz-Ambrona UCD 9 September 1980 27 February 1981 Minister of Labour Félix Manuel Pérez Miyares UCD 9 September 1980 27 February 1981 Minister of EconomyMinister of Trade Juan Antonio García Díez UCD 9 September 1980 7 October 1980 Minister of Health and Social Security Alberto Oliart Independent 9 September 1980 27 February 1981 Minister of Territorial Administration Rodolfo Martín Villa UCD 9 September 1980 27 February 1981 Minister of Culture Íñigo Cavero UCD 9 September 1980 27 February 1981 Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister, without portfolio Pío Cabanillas Gallas UCD 9 September 1980 27 February 1981 Minister for Relations with the European Communities, without portfolio Eduard Punset UCD 9 September 1980 27 February 1981 Changes October 1980 Portfolio Name Party Took office Left office Minister of Economy and Trade Juan Antonio García Díez UCD 7 October 1980 27 February 1981
Departmental structure Adolfo Suárez'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 () Director-general () Autonomous agency () Military & intelligence agency