Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Spain)

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.

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.

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, peacekeeping operations, non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament, and human rights.

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. This body was suppressed in 1982 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. 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.

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.

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:

The Directorate-General for Foreign Policy and Security. Described as the "Policy Director", it assists 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 assists 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 1ºCarlos Robles Piquer27 April 197924 October 1981Marcelino Oreja AguirreJosé Pedro Pérez-LlorcaAdolfo SuárezLeopoldo Calvo-Sotelo2ºGabriel Mañueco de Lecea6 November 198121 October 1982José Pedro Pérez-LlorcaLeopoldo Calvo-Sotelo3ºRamón de Miguel y Egea14 May 19966 May 2000Abel MatutesJosé María Aznar4ºMiquel Nadal Segalá6 May 200020 July 2002Josep Piqué5ºRamón Gil-Casares20 July 200220 April 2004Ana Palacio6ºBernardino León20 April 200422 April 2008Miguel Ángel MoratinosJosé Luis Rodríguez Zapatero7ºÁngel Lossada Torres-Quevedo22 April 200827 July 20108ºJuan Pablo de Laiglesia y González de Peredo27 July 20106 November 2010Trinidad Jiménez9ºJuan Antonio Yáñez-Barnuevo García6 November 201024 December 201110ºGonzalo de Benito Secades24 December 201115 November 2014José Manuel García-MargalloMariano Rajoy11ºIgnacio Ybáñez Rubio15 November 201421 January 201712ºIldefonso Castro López21 January 201719 June 2018Alfonso Dastis13º Fernando Martín Valenzuela Marzo19 June 20185 February 2020Josep BorrellPedro Sánchez14ºCristina Gallach5 February 202021 July 2021Arancha González Laya15ºÁngeles Moreno Bau21 July 202120 December 2023José Manuel Albares16ºDiego Martínez Belío20 December 2023Incumbent

See also

Permanent Representative of Spain to the United Nations Permanent Representative of Spain to the United Nations in Geneva Permanent Representative of Spain to the United Nations in Vienna

References