# Ministry of Territorial Policy

The Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory (MPTMD), is the department of the Government of Spain which manages the policies of the government regarding relations and cooperation with the Autonomous Communities and with the entities that integrate the Local Administration and those related to the territorial organization of the country and with the Government Delegations and Sub-Delegations in the regions and provinces.
The MPTFP is also in charge of the proposal and carrying out the government policy in matters of civil service, public employment and training of public employees; of governance and organization of the General State Administration; of procedures and inspection of services; of transparency and open government; of the development and monitoring of programs to improve public management and the quality of services.
Likewise, it is responsible for the Digital Administration policy, as well as the coordination of the process of rationalization of information and communication technologies in the field of the General State Administration and its public agencies, and the promotion of e-Government. through the shared provision of the Common Service of Information and Communication Systems; It is also responsible for establishing the necessary provisions and guidelines for its operation.

## History

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

## Organization chart

The current structure of the Ministry is:
* The Secretariat of State for Territorial Policy
** The General Secretariat for Territorial Coordination, with the rank of Undersecretariat
*** The Directorate-General for Regional and Local Cooperation
*** The Directorate-General for Regional and Local Legal Regime
*** The Directorate-General for the General State Administration in the Territory
* The Secretariat of State for Democratic Memory
** The Directorate-General for Victims Assistance
** The Directorate-General for the Promotion of Democratic Memory
* The Undersecretariat
** The Technical General Secretariat, with the rank of Directorate-General
* The Special Commissioner for the Reconstruction of the island of La Palma, with the rank of Undersecretariat
* The Special Commissioner for the Reconstruction and Repair of damage caused by the 2024 Spanish floods, with the rank of Undersecretariat
* The Commissioner for the celebration of the 50 years of Spain in Freedom, with the rank of Undersecretariat

## List of officeholders

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)
| Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office | Party | Party | Government | Prime Minister (Tenure) | Prime Minister (Tenure) | Ref. |
| Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Took office | Left office | Duration | Party | Party | Government | Prime Minister (Tenure) | Prime Minister (Tenure) | Ref. |
| | Antonio Fontán (1923–2010) | 6 April 1979 | 3 May 1980 | 1 year and 27 days | | UCD | Suárez III | | Adolfo Suárez (1976–1981) | [8] [9] |
| | José Pedro Pérez-Llorca (1940–2019) | 3 May 1980 | 9 September 1980 | 129 days | | UCD | Suárez III | | Adolfo Suárez (1976–1981) | [10] [11] |
| | Rodolfo Martín Villa (born 1934) | 9 September 1980 | 27 February 1981 | 1 year and 84 days | | UCD | Suárez III | | Adolfo Suárez (1976–1981) | [12] [13] [14] |
| | Rodolfo Martín Villa (born 1934) | 27 February 1981 | 2 December 1981 | 1 year and 84 days | | UCD | Calvo-Sotelo | | Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo (1981–1982) | [12] [13] [14] |
| | Rafael Arias-Salgado (born 1942) | 2 December 1981 | 30 July 1982 | 240 days | | UCD | Calvo-Sotelo | | Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo (1981–1982) | [15] [16] |
| | Luis Cosculluela (born 1939) | 30 July 1982 | 3 December 1982 | 126 days | | Independent | Calvo-Sotelo | | Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo (1981–1982) | [17] [18] |
| | 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) | [19] [20] |
| | Félix Pons (1942–2010) | 5 July 1985 | 14 July 1986 (renounced) | 1 year and 9 days | | PSOE | González I | | Felipe González (1982–1996) | [21] [22] |
| | Javier Moscoso (ordinary discharge of duties) (born 1934) | 14 July 1986 | 26 July 1986 | 12 days | | Independent | González I | | Felipe González (1982–1996) | |
| | Joaquín Almunia (born 1948) | 26 July 1986 | 7 December 1989 | 4 years and 230 days | | PSOE | González II | | Felipe González (1982–1996) | [23] [24] [25] |
| | Joaquín Almunia (born 1948) | 7 December 1989 | 13 March 1991 | 4 years and 230 days | | PSOE | González III | | Felipe González (1982–1996) | [23] [24] [25] |
| | Juan Manuel Eguiagaray (born 1945) | 13 March 1991 | 14 July 1993 | 2 years and 123 days | | PSOE | González III | | Felipe González (1982–1996) | [26] [27] |
| | Jerónimo Saavedra (1936–2023) | 14 July 1993 | 3 July 1995 | 1 year and 354 days | | PSOE | González IV | | Felipe González (1982–1996) | [28] [29] |
| | Joan Lerma (born 1951) | 3 July 1995 | 6 May 1996 | 308 days | | PSOE | González IV | | Felipe González (1982–1996) | [30] [31] |
| | Mariano Rajoy (born 1955) | 6 May 1996 | 19 January 1999 | 2 years and 258 days | | PP | Aznar I | | José María Aznar (1996–2004) | [32] [33] |
| | Ángel Acebes (born 1958) | 19 January 1999 | 28 April 2000 | 1 year and 100 days | | PP | Aznar I | | José María Aznar (1996–2004) | [34] [35] |
| | Jesús Posada (born 1945) | 28 April 2000 | 10 July 2002 | 2 years and 73 days | | PP | Aznar II | | José María Aznar (1996–2004) | [36] [37] |
| | Javier Arenas (born 1957) | 10 July 2002 | 4 September 2003 | 1 year and 56 days | | PP | Aznar II | | José María Aznar (1996–2004) | [38] [39] |
| | Julia García-Valdecasas (1944–2009) | 4 September 2003 | 18 April 2004 | 227 days | | PP | Aznar II | | José María Aznar (1996–2004) | [40] [41] |
| | Jordi Sevilla (born 1956) | 18 April 2004 | 9 July 2007 | 3 years and 82 days | | PSOE | Zapatero I | | José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (2004–2011) | [42] [43] |
| | Elena Salgado (born 1949) | 9 July 2007 | 14 April 2008 | 1 year and 272 days | | Independent | Zapatero I | | José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (2004–2011) | [44] [45] [46] |
| | Elena Salgado (born 1949) | 14 April 2008 | 7 April 2009 | 1 year and 272 days | | Independent | Zapatero II | | José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (2004–2011) | [44] [45] [46] |
| | Manuel Chaves (born 1945) | 7 April 2009 | 22 December 2011 | 2 years and 259 days | | PSOE | Zapatero II | | José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (2004–2011) | [47] [48] [49] |
| Office disestablished during this interval. |||||||||||
| | Meritxell Batet (born 1973) | 7 June 2018 | 20 May 2019 (renounced) | 347 days | | PSC–PSOE | Sánchez I | | Pedro Sánchez (2018–present) | [50] [51] |
| | Luis Planas (ordinary discharge of duties) (born 1952) | 20 May 2019 | 13 January 2020 | 238 days | | PSOE | Sánchez I | | Pedro Sánchez (2018–present) | |
| | Carolina Darias (born 1965) | 13 January 2020 | 27 January 2021 | 1 year and 14 days | | PSOE | Sánchez II | | Pedro Sánchez (2018–present) | [53] [54] |
| | Miquel Iceta (born 1960) | 27 January 2021 | 12 July 2021 | 166 days | | PSC–PSOE | Sánchez II | | Pedro Sánchez (2018–present) | [55] [56] |
| | Isabel Rodríguez (born 1981) | 12 July 2021 | 21 November 2023 | 2 years and 132 days | | PSOE | Sánchez II | | Pedro Sánchez (2018–present) | [57] [58] |
| | Ángel Víctor Torres (born 1966) | 21 November 2023 | Incumbent | 1 year and 48 days | | PSOE | Sánchez III | | Pedro Sánchez (2018–present) | |