Ministry of Environment (Spain)

Environmental policies have been present in the Spanish administration for centuries, with regulations such as the Ordinances for the Conservation and Enhancement of the Navy's Forests and for the Enhancement and Conservation of Forests and Plantations (1748).^[5] When the Ministry of the Interior was created in 1812, it assumed responsibility for nature conservation, which was later transferred to the Ministry of Development in 1847, and in more recent times its responsibilities have been divided primarily between the ministries of Development and of Agriculture.

In 1833, the Directorate-General for Forests was created, the first administration dedicated to the conservation of nature.^[6] Also, by Royal Decree of 31 May 1837, it was established that "waste lands, crown lands, and lands of unknown ownership, as belonging to the nation as a whole, are administered by the Government", through the aforementioned directorate-general.^[7]

Subsequently, Water Laws were also passed in 1866 and 1879, canal and swamp laws in 1870, and the first River Basin Authorities (Spanish: Confederaciones Hidrográficas) were created in the 1920s.^[8]

From the 1970s onwards, the term "Environment" was incorporated into the Administration; first through an Interministerial Committee in 1971 for this matter, a Government Delegated Committee in 1972 and, later, through several government bodies, such as directorates-general, undersecretariats or, finally, in a ministerial department, such as the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Environment in 1993.^[9]

The minister for the ecological transition and demographic challenge is the most senior official of the Ministry. As such, the minister is responsible for appointing all the departmental officials and for establishing the department's general policy guidelines.

To exercise its powers, the minister is assisted by two secretaries of state, one for energy affairs and other for environment and water policies, and an under-secretary, who helps the minister in the daily management of the ministry. Also, the minister has three special commissioners, with the rank of under-secretaries, to develop certain policies.

As of 2026^[update], this is the organization of the Ministry:^[3]

For fiscal year 2023, extended to 2026, the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge has a consolidated budget of €8.9 billion. Of this amount, €7 billion are directly managed by the ministry's central services while €1.9 billion are managed by its agencies.^[17]

The budget can be divided into five main areas:^[17]

1. Energy policy (Programs 42AB, 42BC, 42GA, 42GB, 42HA, 42HB, 42HC, 42IA, 42JA, 42KD, 423N, 424M, 425A & 456N), which funds the energy transition policies of the government, including renewables, storage, hydrogen and energy policy development and regulation.
2. Water policy (45EA, 45EB, 45EC, 452A, 452M, 456A & 49EC), covering water resources management, quality and planning, as well as public works and rivers and other water natural areas restoration.
3. Environmental policy (45DA, 45DB, 45DC, 45DD, 45ED, 45LC, 45SA, 456B, 456C, 456D, 456M & 495B), which finances the nature protection and climate policies, including meteorological forecasting.
4. Demographic challenges (42BD & 456E), which funds the fight against demographic challenges, such us depopulation of rural areas.
5. Administration and general services (451O), covering the Ministry’s central services and administrative structure.

In addition, Programme 000X (“Internal Transfers and Disbursements”) is excluded from the analysis, as it consists of transfers between public sector entities and would otherwise lead to double counting and distort the overall budget.

Office name:

• Ministry of Environment (1996–2008)
• Ministry for the Ecological Transition (2018–2020)
• Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (2020–present)

More information Portrait, Name (Birth–Death) ...

Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office			Party		Government	Prime Minister (Tenure)		Ref.
		Took office	Left office	Duration
	Isabel Tocino (born 1949)	6 May 1996	28 April 2000	3 years and 358 days		PP	Aznar I		José María Aznar (1996–2004)	[18] [19]
	Jaume Matas (born 1956)	28 April 2000	3 March 2003	2 years and 309 days		PP	Aznar II			[20] [21]
	Elvira Rodríguez (born 1957)	3 March 2003	18 April 2004	1 year and 46 days		PP				[22] [23]
	Cristina Narbona (born 1951)	18 April 2004	14 April 2008	3 years and 362 days		PSOE	Zapatero I		José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (2004–2011)	[24] [25]
Office disestablished during this interval.[a]
	Teresa Ribera (born 1969)	7 June 2018	13 January 2020	6 years and 171 days		PSOE	Sánchez I		Pedro Sánchez (2018–present)	[26] [27] [28] [29]
		13 January 2020	21 November 2023				Sánchez II
		21 November 2023	25 November 2024				Sánchez III
	Sara Aagesen (born 1976)	25 November 2024	Incumbent	1 year and 160 days		Independent				[30]

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