Fourth government of Felipe González

The fourth government of Felipe González was formed on 14 July 1993, following the latter's election as prime minister of Spain by the Congress of Deputies on 9 July and his swearing-in on 13 July, as a result of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) emerging as the largest parliamentary force at the 1993 Spanish general election. It succeeded the third González government and was the government of Spain from 14 July 1993 to 6 May 1996, a total of days, or .

González's fourth cabinet was an important change compared to the previous one: only five members remained in their previous ministries, four changed of portfolio and eight were new. It was described as the least political cabinet out of the four González governments, with up to six independent figures, as well as the one with the most female ministers (Carmen Alborch, Ángeles Amador and Cristina Alberdi). The sole deputy prime minister's office under Narcís Serra from the Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC) was maintained with increased competences on economic affairs.

The parliamentary defeat of the 1996 General State Budget bill on 25 October 1995 led to the virtual downfall of González's government, which was forced to prorogue the 1995 budget and ultimately decided to dissolve parliament and call a snap election. It was automatically dismissed on 4 March 1996 as a consequence of the 1996 general election, but remained in acting capacity until the next government was sworn in.

Investiture

InvestitureCongress of Deputies Ballot → 9 July 1993 Required majority → 176 out of 350 Sources

Cabinet changes González's fourth government saw a number of cabinet changes during its tenure: On 18 November 1993, Minister of the Interior José Luis Corcuera announced his intention to submit his resignation after the Constitutional Court of Spain declared the unconstitutionality of a number of provisions within the 1992 Organic Law on Protection of Citizen Security, colloquially known as the "Corcuera Law" or the "Law of kick down the door", that allowed police forces, without previous judicial authorization, to enter private properties based on the mere suspicion that a crime was being committed within. Corcuera's resignation was accepted on 24 November, and the following day Antoni Asunción was appointed to replace him at the helm of the interior ministry. On 6 May 1994, Juan Alberto Belloch and Luis María Atienza were assigned the responsibilities of the Interior and Agriculture, Fisheries and Food ministries after the resignations of Antoni Asunción and Vicente Albero. Asunción announced on 30 April his intention to step down from his post after it transpired that former Director-General of the Civil Guard Luis Roldán, suspected of amassing a fortune through fraudulent means during his years of service and whose monitoring was responsibility of the Interior ministry, had fled Spain to escape legal prosecution. Concurrently, Albero resigned as agriculture minister on 4 May after he became involved in a tax fraud scandal. Prime Minister González accepted both ministers' resignations on 4 May 1994. As a result of the reshuffle, the Justice and Interior departments were merged into a single ministry. On 12 June 1995, a major scandal unveiled after it transpired that the Superior Center of Defense Information (CESID), the main Spanish intelligence agency at the time, had been recording and keeping the taped telephone conversations of dozens of prominent public figures for years, including politicians, businessmen, journalists or the King himself, apparently without the cabinet's knowledge. The scandal brought about the resignations of Julián García Vargas, Minister of Defence since 1991 and under whose authority the CESID was responsible to, but also of Deputy Prime Minister Narcís Serra, who had been the defence minister in the 1982 to 1991 period. Prime Minister González accepted the resignations on 28 June 1995, but despite earlier speculation on a larger reshuffle, the government changes were limited to replacing García Vargas by Minister of Education Gustavo Suárez Pertierra and the incorporation of former President of the Valencian Government Joan Lerma into the cabinet in the Public Administrations portfolio, replacing Jerónimo Saavedra who, in turn, filled Suárez Pertierra's vacancy in Education; no replacement for Narcís Serra as deputy prime minister was appointed. On 19 December 1995, Javier Solana was replaced by Carlos Westendorp in the Foreign Affairs portfolio after the former was elected as new Secretary General of NATO.

Council of Ministers The Council of Ministers was structured into the offices for the prime minister, the deputy prime minister, 16 ministries and the post of the spokesperson of the Government. The number of ministries was reduced to 15 after the ministries of Justice and Interior were merged in 1994. The office of the deputy prime minister was left vacant from 1995.

← González IV Government →(14 July 1993 – 6 May 1996) Portfolio Name Party Took office Left office Prime Minister Felipe González PSOE 13 July 1993 5 May 1996 Deputy Prime Minister Narcís Serra PSOE/PSC 14 July 1993 2 July 1995 Minister of Foreign Affairs Javier Solana PSOE 14 July 1993 19 December 1995 Minister of Justice Juan Alberto Belloch Independent 14 July 1993 6 May 1994 Minister of Defence Julián García Vargas PSOE 14 July 1993 2 July 1995 Minister of Economy and Finance Pedro Solbes Independent 14 July 1993 6 May 1996 Minister of the Interior José Luis Corcuera PSOE 14 July 1993 24 November 1993 Minister of Public Works, Transport and Environment Josep Borrell PSOE 14 July 1993 6 May 1996 Minister of Education and Science Gustavo Suárez Pertierra PSOE 14 July 1993 3 July 1995 Minister of Labour and Social Security José Antonio Griñán PSOE 14 July 1993 6 May 1996 Minister of Industry and Energy Juan Manuel Eguiagaray PSOE 14 July 1993 6 May 1996 Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Vicente Albero PSOE 14 July 1993 4 May 1994 Minister of the PresidencySpokesperson of the Government Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba PSOE 14 July 1993 6 May 1996 Minister for Public Administrations Jerónimo Saavedra PSOE 14 July 1993 3 July 1995 Minister of Culture Carmen Alborch Independent 14 July 1993 6 May 1996 Minister of Health and Consumer Affairs Ángeles Amador Independent 14 July 1993 6 May 1996 Minister of Social Affairs Cristina Alberdi Independent 14 July 1993 6 May 1996 Minister of Trade and Tourism Javier Gómez-Navarro Independent 14 July 1993 6 May 1996 Changes November 1993 Portfolio Name Party Took office Left office Minister of the Interior Antoni Asunción PSOE 25 November 1993 4 May 1994 Changes May 1994 Portfolio Name Party Took office Left office Minister of Justice and Interior Juan Alberto Belloch Independent 6 May 1994 6 May 1996 Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Luis María Atienza PSOE 6 May 1994 6 May 1996 Changes July 1995 Portfolio Name Party Took office Left office Deputy Prime Minister Minister of Defence Gustavo Suárez Pertierra PSOE 3 July 1995 6 May 1996 Minister of Education and Science Jerónimo Saavedra PSOE 3 July 1995 6 May 1996 Minister for Public Administrations Joan Lerma PSOE 3 July 1995 6 May 1996 Changes December 1995 Portfolio Name Party Took office Left office Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Westendorp PSOE 19 December 1995 6 May 1996

Departmental structure Felipe González's fourth 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

Office Portrait Name Took office Left office Alliance/party Prime Minister's Office Prime Minister Felipe González 13 July 1993 5 May 1996 PSOE Deputy Prime Minister Narcís Serra 14 July 1993 2 July 1995 PSOE Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ministry of Foreign Affairs Javier Solana 14 July 1993 19 December 1995 PSOE Carlos Westendorp 19 December 1995 6 May 1996 PSOEMinistry of Justice Ministry of Justice

Ministry of Justice and Interior Juan Alberto Belloch 14 July 1993 6 May 1996 PSOE Ministry of Defence Ministry of Defence Julián García Vargas 14 July 1993 2 July 1995 PSOE Gustavo Suárez Pertierra 3 July 1995 6 May 1996 PSOEMinistry of Economy and Finance Ministry of Economy and Finance Pedro Solbes 14 July 1993 6 May 1996 PSOE Ministry of the Interior Ministry of the Interior José Luis Corcuera 14 July 1993 24 November 1993 PSOE Antoni Asunción 25 November 1993 4 May 1994 PSOEMinistry of Public Works, Transport and Environment Ministry of Public Works,Transport and Environment Josep Borrell 14 July 1993 6 May 1996 PSOE Ministry of Education and Science Ministry of Education and Science Gustavo Suárez Pertierra 14 July 1993 3 July 1995 PSOE Jerónimo Saavedra 3 July 1995 6 May 1996 PSOE() High Council for Sports () President's Office of the High Council for Sports () Directorate-General for Sports () Directorate-General for Sports Infrastructure and ServicesMinistry of Labour and Social Security Ministry of Labourand Social Security José Antonio Griñán 14 July 1993 6 May 1996 PSOE Ministry of Industry and Energy Ministry of Industry and Energy Juan Manuel Eguiagaray 14 July 1993 6 May 1996 PSOE Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Ministry of Agriculture,Fisheries and Food Vicente Albero 14 July 1993 4 May 1994 PSOE Luis María Atienza 6 May 1994 6 May 1996 PSOEMinistry of the Presidency Ministry of the Presidency Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba 14 July 1993 6 May 1996 PSOE Ministry for Public Administrations Ministry for Public Administrations Jerónimo Saavedra 14 July 1993 3 July 1995 PSOE Joan Lerma 3 July 1995 6 May 1996 PSOEMinistry of Culture Ministry of Culture Carmen Alborch 14 July 1993 6 May 1996 PSOE Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs Ministry of Healthand Consumer Affairs Ángeles Amador 14 July 1993 6 May 1996 PSOE Ministry of Social Affairs Ministry of Social Affairs Cristina Alberdi 14 July 1993 6 May 1996 PSOE Ministry of Trade and Tourism Ministry of Trade and Tourism Javier Gómez-Navarro 14 July 1993 6 May 1996 PSOE Spokesperson of the Government Spokesperson of the Government Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba 14 July 1993 6 May 1996 PSOE

Fourth government of Felipe González

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