Captain general of the Navy () is the highest naval officer rank of the Spanish Navy, rated OF-10 with the NATO ranking system. The routine honorary appointments formally ceased in 1999. The rank of captain general of the Navy is equivalent to an admiral of the fleet in many nations, a captain general of the Spanish Army or a Captain general of the Air Force in the Spanish Air and Space Force.

A peculiar usage of the term captain general arose in the Spanish Navy of the 16th century. A captain general was appointed by the king as the leader of a fleet (although the term 'squadron' is more appropriate, as most galleon fleets rarely consisted of more than a dozen vessels, not counting escorted merchantmen), with full jurisdictional powers. The fleet second-in-command was the admiral, an officer appointed by the capitan-general and responsible for the seaworthiness of the squadron.

Since King Amadeo's reign (1871–1873), the monarchs used captain general of the Navy rank and insignia as Commander-in-chief. Briefly abolished by the Second Spanish Republic, it was restored in 1938 during the regime of Francisco Franco, a General of the Army. Since 19th century honorary promotions of retired admirals to this rank were also made, such as the prime ministers Juan Bautista Aznar-Cabañas (1928) and Luis Carrero Blanco (1973), the only posthumous promotion. Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, claimant to the Spanish throne (1941–1977) and father of King Juan Carlos, was also made honorary captain general of the Spanish Navy in 1992.

List Date of promotion Image Name Dead/Annulled Notes 1750 Juan José Navarro, 1st Marquess of Victoria † 1st general captain of the Navy 1783 Luis de Córdova y Córdova † 2nd general captain of the Navy Hattendorf, John (2000): Naval policy and strategy in the Mediterranean: past, present, and future. Taylor & Francis, p. 37. 1789 Pedro Fitz-James Stuart † 3rd general captain of the Navy 1792 Antonio Valdés y Fernández Bazán † 4th general captain of the Navy Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece || Martínez-Valverde y Martínez, Carlos. Enciclopedia General del Mar. Garriga, Madrid, 1957.González de Canales, Fernando (2000). Catálogo de Pinturas del Museo Naval. Tomo II. Madrid: Ministerio de Defensa.1794 † 5th general captain of the Navy Biografía del Marqués de Casa-Tilly. Portal TodoAvante.es. In SpanishBiografía del Marqués de Casa-Tilly. Portal Todo a Babor. In Spanish1796 † 6th general captain of the Navy http://www.todoababor.es/articulos/bio_arce.htm Biografía de Antonio González de Arce. Portal Todo a Babor. In Spanish1798 Manuel Antonio Flórez y Maldonado † 7th general captain of the Navy Real Academia de la historia: Diccionario Bibliográfico español – Manuel Antonio Flórez"Flores, Manuel Antonio (1987)." Enciclopedia de México, v. 5. Mexico City1798 Juan Cayetano de Lángara y Huarte † 8th general captain of the Navy "Flores, Manuel Antonio (1987). " Enciclopedia de México, v. 5. Mexico City1802 José Solano y Bote † 9th general captain of the Navy José Luis Santalo Rodríguez de Viguri (1973). Don Jose Solano y Bote, Primer Marqués del Socorro Capitán General de la Armada. Madrid: Instituto Histórico de Marina. I.S.B.N. 84-00-03891-6Colección de Opusculos del Excmo. Sr. D. Martín Fernández de Navarrete, Madrid. 18481805 † 10th general captain of the Navy Borja y Poyo. Portal TodoAvante.es. In Spanish1805 Francisco Gil de Taboada y Lemos † 1809 11th general captain of the Navy Gil de Lemos. Portal TodoAvante.es . In Spanish Federico Gravina † 12th general captain of the Navy Federico Gravina. Portal TodoAvante.es. In Spanish Félix Ignacio de Tejada † 13th general captain of the Navy Tejada y Suárez de Lara. Portal TodoAvante.es. In Spanish Ignacio María de Álava † 14th general captain of the Navy Ignacio María de Álava y Navarrete. Portal TodoAvante.es. In Spanish † 15th general captain of the Navy Villavicencio de la Serna. Portal TodoAvante.es. In Spanish. Juan Ruiz de Apodaca y Eliza † 16th general captain of the Navy Ruiz de Apodaca. Portal TodoAvante.es. In Spanish Cayetano Valdés y Flores † 17th general captain of the Navy Madrid Gazette no. 26, de 26/01/1835, pp. 103 a 104.. In SpanishCayetano Valdés y Flores. Portal TodoAvante.es. In Spanish † 18th general captain of the Navy Cervera Pery, José (2004). El Panteón de Marinos Ilustres. Trayectoria Histórica, reseña biográfica. Madrid: Ministerio de Defensa.Fernández Duro, Cesáreo (1973). La Armada Española, desde la unión de los reinos de Castilla y Aragón. Madrid: Museo Naval.González de Canales, Fernando (2000). Catálogo de Pinturas del Museo Naval. Volume II.Marliani, Manuel (1850). Combate de Trafalgar. Vindicación de la Armada Española. Madrid: Impreso de Orden Superior. † 19th general captain of the Navy Sartorio y Terol. Portal TodoAvante.es. In Spanish † 20th general captain of the Navy Minister of the Navy (28 February-20 April 1823) Romay y Jiménez-Cisneros en el portal TodoAvante.es † 21st general captain of the Navy XXI Capitán General de la Armada. Contando historias antiguas... de militares.Francisco Javier de Ulloa en el portal TodoAvante.es † 22nd general captain of the Navy Secretary of the Navy (1832–1833) Francisco Javier de Ulloa. Portal TodoAvante.es. In Spanish † 23rd general captain of the Navy Minister of the Navy (1822–1823 and 11–16 September 1840) Capaz Rendón. Portal TodoAvante.es. In Spanish Francisco Armero y Fernández de Peñaranda † 24th general captain of the Navy Lieutenant general of the Army Minister of the Navy, Commerce and Overseas Governance(1840, 1844–1846 and 1846–1847) Minister of War (1846 and 1857–1858) Minister of Governance (1857–1858) Minister of the Navy (1851–1852 and 1864–1865) Prime Minister (1857–1858) Last surviving Spanish veteran officer of the Battle of Trafalgar † 2 January 1872Minister of the Navy (1837) Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece Cervera y Jácome, Juan (1926). El Panteón de Marinos Ilustres. Madrid: Ministerio de Marina.Martínez-Valverde y Martínez, Carlos (1957). Enciclopedia General del Mar. Garriga.González de Canales, Fernando (2000). Catálogo de Pinturas del Museo Naval. Volume II. Madrid: Ministerio de Defensa. Amadeo de Saboya (First Spanish Republic established)Ex officio Captain general of the Army (1870–1873) Juan José Martínez de Espinosa y Tacón † Juan José Martínez de Espinosa y Tacón. Portal TodoAvante.es. In Spanish Alfonso de Borbón y Borbón † Ex officio Captain general of the Army (1874–1885) Joaquín Gutiérrez de Rubalcava † Ad honorem Minister of the Navy (17 January – 1 March 1864 and 1866–1867) 1st Marquis Rubalcaba with sucesion (1878)compactgen.com. In Spanish Joaquín Gutiérrez de Rubalcaba y Casal. Portal TodoAvante.es. In Spanish † Ad honorem Luis Hernández-Pinzón Álvarez. Portal TodoAvante.es. In Spanish † Ad honorem Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece Guillermo Chacón y Maldonado. Portal TodoAvante.es. In Spanish Carlos Valcárcel y Ussel de Gimbarda † Ad honorem Minister of the Navy (1883–1884) Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece Carlos Valcárcel. Portal TodoAvante.es In Spanish Alfonso de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena (Second Spanish Republic established) Ex officio Captain general of the Army (1902–1931) † Ad honorem Minister of the Navy(1870–1871, 1872–1873, 1885–1886, 1890–1891, 11 March – 11 December 1892 and 1895–1897) † Ad honorem Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece Biografía de Juan Bautista Viniegra y Mendoza. Portal TodoAvante.es. In Spanish † Ad honorem Minister of the Navy (1911–1912 and 23 March – 27 July 1918) Gaceta de Madrid núm. 76, de 17/03/1918.Biografía de Ricardo Fernández de la Puente. Portal TodoAvante.es † Ad honorem Minister of the Navy (1918–1919) Madrid Gazette (11 May 1920). In Spanish Ricardo Fernández de la Puente y Patrón † Ad honorem President of the Supreme War and Navy Council Biografía de Ricardo Fernández de la Puente en el portal TodoAvante.es (In Spanish) Juan Bautista Aznar y Cabañas † Ad honorem Minister of the Navy (16 February – 15 September 1923) Prime Minister (18 February – 14 April 1931) Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece Madrid Gazette (30 October 1928)Hemeroteca Periódico ABC (21/02/33). Acceded 14 February 2017 (In Spanish). Francisco Franco y Bahamonde † Ex officio (As Head of state) Captain general of the Army (1938–1975) and Air captain general (1939–1975) Generalissimo (1936–1975) Luis Carrero y Blanco Posthumous promotion Deputy Prime Minister (1967–1973) Prime Minister (9 June – 20 December 1973) Decree 3204/1973, 20 December, approving the State funeral for HE Admiral Carrero Blanco, the President of the Government. Spanish Official Journal (21/12/73) Juan Carlos de Borbón y Borbón Active until (Abdication) Ex officio Retired since 19 June 2014 Captain general of the Army and Air captain general Law-Decree 16/1975, 20 November, promoting HRH the Prince of Spain to honorary captain general of the Armies. Spanish Official Journal. In Spanish Juan de Borbón y Battenberg † Ad honorem Infante of Spain Claim to the Spanish throne (1941–1977) Royal Decree 1477/1992, 4 December, promoting HRH don Juan de Borbón y Battenberg, Navy Admiral, to honorary captain general of the Navy. Spanish Official Journal (05/12/1992). In Spanish Felipe de Borbón y Grecia Present Ex officio Captain general of the Army and Air captain general

See also Captain general Captain general of the Army Captain general of the Air Force Spanish Navy

Notes

References

Juan y Ferragut, Mariano. La Marina en 1808, Cuadernos monográficos del IHCN. Spanish Navy (In Spanish).