# Ministry of the Air (Spain)

The Ministry of the Air (Spanish: Ministerio del Aire) was a government department of Spain that was tasked with oversight of both the Spanish Air Force (Ejército del Aire) and civil aviation during the Francoist regime.
The ministry was created on 8 August 1939, after the end of the Spanish Civil War. It was dissolved on 4 July 1977 by the Royal Decree 1558/1977, being merged with the Ministry of Defence as part of the transition to democracy.

## History

During the Second Spanish Republic there had been the Dirección General de Aeronáutica [es], an agency that had both military and civil aviation under its jurisdiction, but it disappeared after the start of the Spanish Civil War.
The direct predecessor of the Ministry of the Air was the Ministry of National Defense, created in 1938 during the first government of Francisco Franco, under the then commander of the Army of the North [es], Fidel Dávila Arrondo. The three branches of the Armed Forces (Army, Navy and Air Force) were grouped under its control. The Ministry of the Air was created in the second government of Francisco Franco; it was defined and regulated by Law of 8 August 1939, whose organization and functions were delimited by Decree of 1 September 1939. General Juan Yagüe was appointed Minister, with Fernando Barron as Undersecretary.
After the end of the Civil War, Yagüe intended to build a new Air Force out of the Aviación Nacional with the help of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, and with the clear intention of participating in World War II on the side of the Axis powers. At the beginning of World War II the new Air Force had 14 regiments and 3 groups, composed in turn by 172 fighters and 164 bombers of different types, along with 82 assisting planes and 75 other devices of different types captured from the Spanish Republican Air Force. The reports issued by the General Staff, however, left in evidence the bad state in which the airplanes were, the lack of spare parts and fuel. In the end, the project to expand the Air Force was a failure given the situation in the country, and Yagüe was dismissed and replaced by General Juan Vigón. Since 1940, different locations in Madrid were searched for the future headquarters of the Ministry, and after several options a site in the district of Moncloa-Aravaca was chosen. The lots are acquired by the City Council of Madrid, under then Mayor of Madrid Alberto Alcocer y Ribacoba; General Vigón instructed architect Luis Gutiérrez Soto on the renovation of the area and the design of the new building. Although the building was not completed until 1958, it was already fulfilling its mission in 1954.
The Ministry was abolished by the Royal Decree 1558/1977 of 4 July 1977, when Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez created the Ministry of Defence as part of his second government (formed following the 1977 general election), which integrated the ministries of the Army, Navy and Air Force during the transition to democracy.

## Organic structure

On 5 September 1939 the structure of the Ministry was organized, being composed of the following departments:
* General Staff of the Air Force [es].
* Undersecretary, overseeing general directorates of: Civil Aviation, Personnel, Infrastructure, Material and Antiaeronautics (anti-aircraft).
* Senior Advisory Council.
* Private Secretary of the Minister.
* General and Technical Secretariat.
* Political Secretariat.
* Administrative Technical Board.
* Legal advice.

## List of ministers

| No. | Portrait | Name (born–died) | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office | Political party | Political party | Government | Ref. |
| No. | Portrait | Name (born–died) | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Political party | Political party | Government | Ref. |
| 1 | | Yagüe, JuanLieutenant General Juan Yagüe (1891–1952) | 9 August 1939 | 27 June 1940 | 323 days | | Military | Franco II | |
| 2 | | Vigón, JuanLieutenant General Juan Vigón (1880–1955) | 27 June 1940 | 20 July 1945 | 5 years, 23 days | | Military | Franco II | |
| 3 | | González-Gallarza, EduardoLieutenant General Eduardo González-Gallarza (1898–1986) | 20 July 1945 | 25 February 1957 | 11 years, 220 days | | Military | Franco III–IV | |
| 4 | | Díaz de Lecea, José RodríguezLieutenant General José Rodríguez y Díaz de Lecea (1894–1967) | 25 February 1957 | 11 July 1962 | 5 years, 136 days | | Military | Franco V | |
| 5 | | Lacalle Larraga, JoséLieutenant General José Lacalle Larraga (1897–1981) | 11 July 1962 | 30 October 1969 | 7 years, 111 days | | Military | Franco VI–VII | |
| 6 | | Díaz-Benjumea, Julio SalvadorLieutenant General Julio Salvador y Díaz-Benjumea (1910–1987) | 30 October 1969 | 31 December 1973 | 4 years, 62 days | | Military | Franco VIII Carrero Blanco | |
| 7 | | Cuadra Medina, MarianoLieutenant General Mariano Cuadra Medina (1912–1981) | 4 January 1974 | 12 December 1975 | 1 year, 342 days | | Military | Arias Navarro I | |
| 8 | | Iribarnegaray, Carlos FrancoLieutenant General Carlos Franco Iribarnegaray (1912–1982) | 12 December 1975 | 5 July 1977 | 1 year, 205 days | | Military | Arias Navarro II Suárez I | |