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 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 ...

. 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 the planning and executing the foreign policy of the

central government A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or dele ...

in its global aspects and in some specific geographical and thematic areas. Specifically, he or she is responsible for the coordination and following of the Spanish participation in the Common Foreign Policy and Security of the European Union, for the foreign policy regarding the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

and the rest of the international organizations and the establishment of economic relations with other nations. Furthermore, the SEAEX is in charge of international issues like terrorism, security, construction of and maintainment of peace,

non-proliferation Nuclear proliferation is the spread of nuclear weapons, fissionable material, and weapons-applicable nuclear technology and information to nations not recognized as " Nuclear Weapon States" by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Wea ...

and

nuclear disarmament Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics * Nuclear space * Nuclea ...

and

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

. Most of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

and rest of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

competences are assumed by the

Secretary of State for the European Union The Secretary of State for the European Union (SEUE) is a senior official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of the Government of Spain. The SEUE is appointed by the Monarch with the advice of the Foreign Minister ...

, with the exception of those for

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...

. The SEAEX is also responsible for the foreign policy regarding the

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ar, الْمَغْرِب, al-Maghrib, lit=the west), also known as the Arab Maghreb ( ar, المغرب العربي) and Northwest Africa, is the western part of North Africa and the Arab world. The region includes Algeria, ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

, North America,

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

and the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

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. *: It's the department that implements the directives of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in the functions of assisting the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the European Union and Cooperation in the formulation and execution of foreign policy in its global approaches and objectives, and, especially, in the coordination of Spanish foreign policy with regard to the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the

under the guidance of the European Council and of the decisions adopted by

Foreign Affairs Council The Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) is a configuration of the Council of the European Union that convenes once a month. Meetings bring together the foreign ministers of the member states. Ministers responsible for European affairs, defence, developm ...

. * The Directorate-General for the United Nations and Human Rights. *: It's responsible for the participation of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in all the bodies of the

, of establish the position of Spain regarding international community issues, the participation of Spain in the international organizations about matter of its competences and specifically in

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

and environment organizations and the promotion of

in the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, pro ...

and the participation in this kind of organizations. * The Directorate-General for the Maghreb, the Mediterranean and the Middle East. *: 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 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 proposal and execution of the foreign policy of Spain in the African continent, 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 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 SEAEX

References

{{Authority control Secretaries of State of Spain Foreign ministers of Spain