Ministry of Territorial Policy

This Ministry was first created in 1979 after the approval of the Constitution of 1978 in order to adapt the centralized administration to the new decentralized territorial administration. At the beginning, it assumed the relations with the already formed regions, the regions in process of formation and the local administration.^[3]

Previously, between 1977 and 1979 there was the figure of the Assistant Ministry of the Regions which, led by Manuel Clavero, developed the pre-autonomy agreements of the various regions and nationalities of Spain.^[4]

Initially it was endowed with a small structure, composed of a Undersecretariat, a Technical General Secretariat and two Directorates-General: Cooperation with Autonomous Regimes and Local Cooperation, this last transferred from the Ministry of the Interior.^[5]

In the words of Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez before the Congress of Deputies on 18 April 1979:

The Deputy Minister for the Regions has been removed in order to create from the Ministry of the Interior a new Ministry for Territorial Administration of the State that has clear and specific competences, completely absent from any other relationship with matters of public order in the relations with the City Councils, in the relations with the Provincial Councils and in the relations with the Autonomous Communities, from the perspective of the constitutional mandate of the autonomies that correspond to each one of these

One year later, and with the aim of strengthening the administrative structures that facilitated the process of devolution to the Autonomous Communities, the Secretary of State for the Autonomous Communities, the Secretary of State for Local Corporations and the Directorate-General for Autonomic Development were created.

After the arrival of the Socialist Workers' Party to the Government, in 1983 the Ministry was again the object of remodeling. The Secretary of State for Local Corporations disappeared and four Directorates-General were established: Autonomic Development; Cooperation with the Autonomous Communities; Local Management; and Local Cooperation.

The great reshuffle took place, nevertheless, in 1986, when the department was renamed «for the Public Administrations» and receives powers on Civil Service and Administrative Modernization that until that moment exerted the Ministry of the Presidency.^[6]

A new extension of powers took place in 1997, as a consequence of the approval of the Law 6/1997, of April 14, of Organization and Functioning of the General State Administration, which organically assigned to it the Government Delegations (until then dependents from Interior).

These three areas of activity (Relationship with Autonomous and Local Administrations, Civil Service, and coordination of the Government Delegations) have remained as the competence axis of the department, except for the period 2009–2010, in which the last two passed temporarily to the Ministry of the Presidency. These three areas of work (Relations with Autonomous and Local Administrations, Civil Service, and coordination of the Government Delegations) have remained as the responsibilities axis of the department, except for the period 2009–2010, in which the last two passed temporarily to the Ministry of the Presidency.

Since December 22, 2011, the powers of this department have been integrated in the Ministry of the Treasury, which was renamed the Ministry of the Treasury and Public Administration. All its functions were assigned to the Secretary of State for Public Administrations. In 2016, the functions of relations with the regions and local administrations were transferred to the Presidency Ministry and it wasn't until 2018 that this Ministry was recovered assuming all of its historic responsibilities.^[7]

The minister of territorial policy and democratic memory is the most senior official of the department. The ministers manages two main policies: government relations with other administrations and democratic memory, concerning the legacy of the dictatorship of Francisco Franco.

To implement this policies, the minister is assisted by two secretaries of state and an under-secretary, who manages the ministry on a day-to-day basis. In addition, three commissioners, with the rank of under-secretaries, assist the minister in specific matters related to natural disasters and democratic memory.

As of 2026^[update], this is the organization of the Ministry:^[1]

For fiscal year 2026, the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory has a consolidated budget of €411.4 million.^[8]

The budget is divided in five programs:^[8]

1. Central Services (Program 921M), which covers the costs of the internal structure and administrative functioning of the department.
2. General State Administration in the Territory (921P), which funds the peripheral structure that enables the presence and coordination of the Government across all regions and local entities.
3. State Organization and Cooperation Systems (922M), which allocates resources to institutional coordination between the central government, the regions, and local entities.
4. Democratic Memory (925M), which provides funding for the implementation of the measures set out in the Democratic Memory Law.
5. Economic Cooperation (942A), an economic instrument through which the central government provides financial support to and strengthens local entities, ensuring their capacity to provide public services.

Office name:

• Ministry of Territorial Administration (1979–1986)
• Ministry for Public Administrations (1986–2009)
• Ministry of Territorial Policy (2009–2010; 2021–2023)
• Ministry of Territorial Policy and Public Administrations (2010–2011)
• Ministry of Territorial Policy and Civil Service (2016–2021)
• Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory (2023–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
	Antonio Fontán (1923–2010)	6 April 1979	3 May 1980	1 year and 27 days		UCD	Suárez III		Adolfo Suárez (1976–1981)	[9] [10]
	José Pedro Pérez-Llorca (1940–2019)	3 May 1980	9 September 1980	129 days		UCD				[11] [12]
	Rodolfo Martín Villa (born 1934)	9 September 1980	27 February 1981	1 year and 84 days		UCD				[13] [14] [15]
		27 February 1981	2 December 1981				Calvo-Sotelo		Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo (1981–1982)
	Rafael Arias-Salgado (born 1942)	2 December 1981	30 July 1982	240 days		UCD				[16] [17]
	Luis Cosculluela (born 1939)	30 July 1982	3 December 1982	126 days		Independent				[18] [19]
	Tomás de la Quadra-Salcedo (born 1946)	3 December 1982	5 July 1985	2 years and 214 days		PSOE	González I		Felipe González (1982–1996)	[20] [21]
	Félix Pons (1942–2010)	5 July 1985	14 July 1986 (renounced)	1 year and 9 days		PSOE				[22] [23]
	Javier Moscoso (ordinary discharge of duties) (born 1934)	14 July 1986	26 July 1986	12 days		Independent				[23]
	Joaquín Almunia (born 1948)	26 July 1986	7 December 1989	4 years and 230 days		PSOE	González II			[24] [25] [26]
		7 December 1989	13 March 1991				González III
	Juan Manuel Eguiagaray (1945–2025)	13 March 1991	14 July 1993	2 years and 123 days		PSOE				[27] [28]
	Jerónimo Saavedra (1936–2023)	14 July 1993	3 July 1995	1 year and 354 days		PSOE	González IV			[29] [30]
	Joan Lerma (born 1951)	3 July 1995	6 May 1996	308 days		PSOE				[31] [32]
	Mariano Rajoy (born 1955)	6 May 1996	19 January 1999	2 years and 258 days		PP	Aznar I		José María Aznar (1996–2004)	[33] [34]
	Ángel Acebes (born 1958)	19 January 1999	28 April 2000	1 year and 100 days		PP				[35] [36]
	Jesús Posada (born 1945)	28 April 2000	10 July 2002	2 years and 73 days		PP	Aznar II			[37] [38]
	Javier Arenas (born 1957)	10 July 2002	4 September 2003	1 year and 56 days		PP				[39] [40]
	Julia García-Valdecasas (1944–2009)	4 September 2003	18 April 2004	227 days		PP				[41] [42]
	Jordi Sevilla (born 1956)	18 April 2004	9 July 2007	3 years and 82 days		PSOE	Zapatero I		José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (2004–2011)	[43] [44]
	Elena Salgado (born 1949)	9 July 2007	14 April 2008	1 year and 272 days		Independent				[45] [46] [47]
		14 April 2008	7 April 2009				Zapatero II
	Manuel Chaves (born 1945)	7 April 2009	22 December 2011	2 years and 259 days		PSOE				[48] [49] [50]
Office disestablished during this interval.[a]
	Meritxell Batet (born 1973)	7 June 2018	20 May 2019 (renounced)	347 days		PSC–PSOE	Sánchez I		Pedro Sánchez (2018–present)	[51] [52]
	Luis Planas (ordinary discharge of duties) (born 1952)	20 May 2019	13 January 2020	238 days		PSOE				[53]
	Carolina Darias (born 1965)	13 January 2020	27 January 2021	1 year and 14 days		PSOE	Sánchez II			[54] [55]
	Miquel Iceta (born 1960)	27 January 2021	12 July 2021	166 days		PSC–PSOE				[56] [57]
	Isabel Rodríguez (born 1981)	12 July 2021	21 November 2023	2 years and 132 days		PSOE				[58] [59]
	Ángel Víctor Torres (born 1966)	21 November 2023	Incumbent	2 years and 160 days		PSOE	Sánchez III			[60]

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