The Ministry of the Presidency, Relations with the Cortes and Democratic Memory (MPR) is the department of the

Government of Spain gl, Goberno de España eu, Espainiako Gobernua , image = , caption = Logo of the Government of Spain , headerstyle = background-color: #efefef , label1 = Role , data1 = Executive power , label2 = Established , d ...

which assures the link between the different Ministries and the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

and is responsible for the relations between the Government and the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

. This department also supports

The Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has differ ...

in the exercise of its functions. In this sense, it is responsible for coordinating the matters of institutional relevance; preparing, carrying out and tracking the legislative program; supporting the Prime Minister; supporting the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

, the

Government Delegated Committees The Government Delegated Committees, in Spain, are a collective decision-making-body of the Spanish government consisting on Cabinet ministers and non-Cabinet ministers. This Committees are secondary work bodies of the Council of Ministers responsi ...

and the General Commission of Secretaries of State and Undersecretaries; supporting the Government with its relationships with the

Cortes Generales The Cortes Generales (; en, Spanish Parliament, lit=General Courts) are the bicameral legislative chambers of Spain, consisting of the Congress of Deputies (the lower house), and the Senate (the upper house). The Congress of Deputies m ...

and managing the government policies regarding historical and democratic memory, as well as the exercise of the right to religious freedom and worship. As a supportive department of the Prime Minister, it assumes the functions of giving material, economic, budgetary and personnel support and, in general, as many others of this nature require the Premier and the bodies dependent on the Office of the Prime Minister. Likewise, the MPR is responsible for authorizasing the use of the

flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...

, the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

and other national symbols. At the same time, the Presidency Minister exercises the functions of secretary of the

Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or ...

, signing the minutes of each meeting of the Council as ''Minister-Secretary of the Council of Ministers''. The Ministry's official budget for 2019 is

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

614.23 million.

History

Origin

The background of the coordination work of the different areas of governmental action exercised by the current Ministry of the Presidency can be track down in the resolution of 30 November 1714, which, under the reign of Philip V, the Cabinet Council was created. For the establishment of the

would have to wait more than 100 years, until the Royal Decree of November 19, 1823, under the reign of Ferdinand VII. It is at this time that the embryo of a ministerial coordination function and the Secretariat of the Government can be glimpsed, with the establishment of a book where the agreements of the Council would be written, which fell to the Ministers themselves.

Assistance to the Prime Minister

Despite this, some gestures already announced the future birth of a support structure for the

, which would lead to an independent Ministry. Thus, by Royal Decree of 30 September 1851, a Directorate-General was created that assisted the President of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) in the management of overseas affairs, and that would be the embryo of the future Ministry of the Presidency. It was also created, the position of the Assistant Secretary of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, however in its origins had no relationship with the functions of Secretariat of the Government until 1871. At the beginning of the 1890s, the structure of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Presidency was remodeled, assigning functions of relationship with the constitutional bodies and with regard to appointments and dismissals. In the 20th century, the position became known as the Administrative Office of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (1926), recovering that of Assistant Secretary of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers by virtue of the Royal Decree of 4 February 1930. This designation kept under the Second Republic. It is that time, the figure without especially specific functions, performs tasks as different as those derived from being the Technical Secretariat for Morocco and Colonies and for the National Tourist Board. Under the Franco regime was confirmed by Decree of August 11, 1939 the existence of the Assistant Secretary of the Presidency, and

Luis Carrero Blanco Admiral-General Luis Carrero Blanco (4 March 1904 – 20 December 1973) was a Spanish Navy officer and politician. A long-time confidant and right-hand man of dictator Francisco Franco, Carrero served as the Prime Minister of Spain and i ...

was appointed it. According to the Law of 22 December 1948, the Office of the Assistant Secretary was a special Department that would be in charge of the General Policy and Coordination services.

Ministry

It would be in 1951, through the Decree-Law of July 19 when the Assistant Secretary of the Presidency was given the rank of Minister and with the Legal Regime of the State Administration Act (1957) it was granted to it the function of Secretariat of the Government, as well as preside over the Commissions of Undersecretaries. During the 1950s and 1960s, the Ministry of the Presidency was the driving force behind the administrative reforms underway. In 1957 he was assigned the

Official State Gazette An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their su ...

, the Office of Economic Coordination and Programming was created within the scope of the General Technical Secretariat of the Ministry and it was centralized the competencies in the area of civil servants, with the creation of the Center for the Training and Improvement of Civil Servants (1958, future National Institute for Public Administration), the Superior Commission for Personnel and the Directorate-General for the Civil Service. In 1967 it coincided for the first time the positions of Minister of the Presidency (at the time Minister-Undersecretary) and

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

, in this case in the person of

. This circumstance would be repeated in the future in the cases of

Alfonso Osorio Alfonso Osorio García (13 December 1923 – 27 August 2018) was a Spanish politician. Born in Santander on 13 December 1923, Osorio studied law at the University of Oviedo. He joined the State Lawyers Corps in 1953, serving in Cuenca and Toledo ...

(1976–1977, 2nd Deputy PM),

Francisco Álvarez-Cascos Francisco Álvarez–Cascos Fernández (born 1 October 1947) is a Spanish politician. He was Secretary-General of the ruling Partido Popular from 1989 to 1999 and the President of the Principality of Asturias from 2011 to 2012. He studied civil ...

(1996–2000),

Mariano Rajoy Mariano Rajoy Brey (; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a vote of no confidence ousted his government. On 5 June 2018, he announced his resignation as People's Party le ...

(2000–2001 and 2002–2003), Javier Arenas (2003–2004, 2nd Deputy PM),

María Teresa Fernández de la Vega María Teresa Fernández de la Vega Sanz (born 15 June 1949) is a Spanish politician and magistrate of the Socialist Party. During her political career, she served as first deputy prime minister, minister of the Presidency and government spok ...

(2004–2010),

Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría María Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría Antón (born 10 June 1971) is a Spanish former politician of the People's Party who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Spain and Minister of the Presidency from 2011 to 2018. She was member of the Congress ...

(2011–2018) and

Carmen Calvo María del Carmen Calvo Poyato (born 9 June 1957) is a Spanish politician and author who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Spain and Minister of the Presidency from 2018 to 2021. Born and raised in Cabra, Spain, she attended the University ...

(2018–2021). In spite of the existence of an entire Office since 1951 at the service of the Minister-Undersecretary of the Presidency (or Minister-Assistant Secretary), the Ministry was officially created by a Law of 2 January 1974. In 1976 it assumed the National Statistics Institute, the Directorate-General for Territorial Action and Environment and the National Geographic Institute.

Democracy

The most relevant responsibilities assumed during this period were those derived from the relations between the executive branch and the legislative branch because of the

parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of th ...

created by the Constitution of 1978. For this purpose, in 1979 it was created the Office of the Secretary of State for Constitutional Development, which two years later would become the current Secretariat of State for Relations with the Cortes. The importance of these responsibilities were seen in the period of 1986 to 1993 when the Ministry was renamed Ministry of Relations with the Cortes and the Government Secretariat In 1977 the Directorate-General for Territorial Action and Environment was transferred to the Ministry of Development and the National Statistics Institute to the Ministry of Economy. In 1987 the Development Ministry also assumed the National Geographic Institute. With the creation of the Ministry of Public Administrations in 1979, it lost the responsibilities on the Civil Service. In 1993, the Office of the Spokesperson of the Government was integrated in the Ministry and in 1996 these structure was extended creating the Secretariat of State for Press. Since then, the positions of Minister of the Presidency and Spokesperson have coincided in the persons of

Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba (; 28 July 1951 – 10 May 2019) was a Spanish statesman, politician and chemist who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Spain from 2010 to 2011, and previously as Minister of Education from 1992 to 1993, as Minister of ...

(1993–1996),

Mariano Rajoy Brey Mariano Rajoy Brey (; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a vote of no confidence ousted his government. On 5 June 2018, he announced his resignation as People's Party le ...

(2002–2003),

(2004–2010) and

(2011–2016). As a consequence of the social alarm provoked by the Prestige Disaster, in the 2003–2004 period a Commissioner was created for actions resulting from the catastrophe of the MV ''Prestige'', with the rank of Secretary of State, supported by the Office of the Commissioner and functionally dependent on the Minister of the Presidency. The position was occupied by

Rodolfo Martín Villa Rodolfo Martín Villa (born 3 October 1934) is a Spanish engineer and politician, who served in various capacities in the cabinets of the Spanish transition to democracy, including interior minister and first deputy prime minister. He is being i ...

. The successor of this body the Center for the Prevention and Fight against Maritime and Coastal Pollution was included in the structure of the Ministry, with the rank of Directorate-General and whose competences passed in 2008 to the

Ministry of Environment An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...

. In 2012, the National Intelligence Centre was integrated in the Ministry and in 2013 it was created the Office for the Implementation of the Administration Reform (OPERA). Since November 2016, it assumes the responsibilities of relations with the

Autonomous Communities eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...

and the Entities that make up the Local Administration and those relating to the territorial organization of the State but it loses the Secretariat of State for Press, which is transferred to the Office of the Prime Minister. In 2017 it was created the Government Commissioner facing the Demographic Challenge. In June 2018 it loses the responsibilities on territorial policy but assumes those on equality. In 2020, the ministry's powers over equality policies are transferred to the Ministry of Equality but, in exchange, the department assumes the powers regarding democratic memory and

religious freedom Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedo ...

, both coming from the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Justi ...

. In 2021,

Félix Bolaños Félix Bolaños García ( Madrid, 17 December 1975) is a Spanish lawyer and politician who serves as minister of the Presidency, Relations with the Cortes and Democratic Memory of Spain since 2021. Previously, he served as Secretary-General of ...

was appointed minister of the Presidency.

Structure

The Ministry of the Presidency, Relations with the Cortes and Equality is organised in the following superior bodies: * The Secretariat of State for Relations with the Cortes and Constitutional Affairs. ** The Directorate-General for Relations with the Cortes. ***The Deputy Directorate-General for Legislative Coordination. ***The Deputy Directorate-General for Parliamentary Initiatives. ***The Deputy Directorate-General for Written Control. ***The Deputy Directorate-General for Parliamentary Documentation. ** The Directorate-General for Constitutional Affairs and Legal Coordination. ***The Deputy Directorate-General for Constitutional Regime. * The Secretariat of State for Democratic Memory. ** The Directorate-General for Democratic Memory. ***The Deputy Directorate-General for Assistance to Victims of the Civil War and the Dictatorship. ***The Division for Administrative Coordination and Institutional Relations. * The Undersecretariat of the Presidency, Relations with the Cortes and Democratic Memory. ** The Technical General Secretariat-Government Secretariat. ** The Directorate-General for Services **The Technical Cabinet. **The Deputy Directorate-General for Religious Freedom. *The Special Commissioner for the Reconstruction of the island of La Palma, with rank of Under-Secretary. **The Office of the Special Commissioner for the Reconstruction of the island of

La Palma La Palma (, ), also known as ''La isla bonita'' () and officially San Miguel de La Palma, is the most north-westerly island of the Canary Islands, Spain. La Palma has an area of making it the fifth largest of the eight main Canary Islands. The ...

. From the ministry also depends other public agencies and bodies: *

Boletín Oficial del Estado The ''Boletín Oficial del Estado'' (''BOE''; " en, Official State Gazette, label=none", from 1661 to 1936 known as the ''Gaceta de Madrid'', " en, Madrid Gazette, label=none") is the official gazette of the Kingdom of Spain and may be publish ...

. *

Patrimonio Nacional Patrimonio Nacional ( en, National Heritage) is a Spanish autonomous agency, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Presidency, that administers the sites owned by the Spanish State and used by the Monarch and the Spanish Royal F ...

Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales The Centre for Political and Constitutional Studies (, CEPC), previously known as the Institute for Political Studies (), is an autonomous agency associated with the Ministry for the Presidency of Spain. Its mission is to analyze the internation ...

. *

Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas The Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas ("Centre for Sociological Research") or CIS is a Spanish public research institute. It was founded in 1963 as the Instituto de la Opinión Pública, and in 1977, after the Spanish general election in ...

List of Ministers

* Governments of

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 193 ...

(1936–1975) ** (1951–1967):

— (1) ** (1973–1974): José María Gamazo — (1) ** (1974–1975): Antonio Carro Martínez * First Governments of the Monarchy (1975–1977) ** (1975–1977):

* Constituency Legislature (1977–1979) ** (1977–1979): José Manuel Otero Novas, UCD * I Legislature (1979–1982) ** (1979–1980): José Pedro Pérez-Llorca Rodrigo, UCD ** (1980–1981): Rafael Arias-Salgado Montalvo, UCD ** (1981):

Pío Cabanillas Gallas Pío Cabanillas Gallas (13 November 1923 – 10 October 1991) was a Spanish jurist and politician, who held different cabinet posts and served as a deputy in the European Parliament. Early life and education Cabanillas was born 13 November ...

, UCD ** (1981–1982): Matías Rodríguez Inciarte, UCD * II Legislature (1982–1986) ** (1982–1986): Javier Moscoso del Prado, PSOE * III Legislature (1986–1989), called ''Ministerio de Relaciones con las Cortes y de la Secretaría del Gobierno''. ** (1986–1989):

Virgilio Zapatero Gómez Virgilio, the Italian and Spanish form of Virgil may refer to: *Virgilio, Lombardy, a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Borgo Virgilio in the Italian province of Mantua * Virgilio.it, a website People with the given name *Virgilio Barco Vargas (19 ...

, PSOE * IV Legislature (1989–1993), called ''Ministerio de Relaciones con las Cortes''. ** (1992–1993):

, PSOE * V Legislature (1993–1996) ** (1995–1996):

, PSOE * VI Legislature (1996–2000) ** (1996–2000): Francisco Álvarez-Cascos Fernández, PP * VII Legislature (2000–2004) ** (2000–2001):

, PP ** (2001–2002): Juan José Lucas Giménez, PP ** (2002–2003):

, PP ** (2003–2004):

Javier Arenas Bocanegra Javier Arenas Bocanegra (born 28 December 1957 in Seville, Andalusia, Spain) is a Spanish politician. Although born in Seville, he was raised in Olvera, hometown of his parents. He is married with two children, graduated in law and has an MA in ...

, PP * VIII Legislature (2004–2008) ** (2004–2008):

PSOE The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...

* IX Legislature (2008–2011) ** (2008–2010):

, PSOE ** (2010–2011):

Ramón Jáuregui Ramón Jáuregui Atondo (born 1948) is a Spanish politician. A member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), he served as Minister of the Presidency (2010–2011) during the Second Zapatero Government. He also was member of the European ...

, PSOE * X Legislature (2011–2016) ** (2011–2016):

, PP * XI Legislature (2016) ** (2016):

, PP — (2) * XII Legislature (2016–present) ** (2016–2018):

, PP — (2) ** (2018–2021):

Carmen Calvo Poyato María del Carmen Calvo Poyato (born 9 June 1957) is a Spanish politician and author who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Spain and Ministry of the Presidency (Spain), Minister of the Presidency from 2018 to 2021. Born and raised in Cabra, S ...

, PSOE — (3/4) ** (2021–present):

, PSOE (4) (1) Undersecretaries of the Presidency
(2) Minister of the Presidency and for the Territorial Administrations
(3) Minister of the Presidency, Relations with the Cortes and Equality
(4) Minister of the Presidency, Relations with the Cortes and Democratic Memory

References

Spanish Cabinets at CSIC website

External links

Ministry of the Presidency official website
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Presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified by ...

1951 establishments in Spain Ministries established in 1951