Secretary of State for Defence (Spain)
| Secretary of State for Defence | |
|---|---|
| Secretario de Estado de Defensa | |
.svg) Coat of Arms used by the Government | |
 | |
 Incumbent since 11 May 2022Amparo Valcarce | |
| Ministry of Defence | |
| Style | The Most Excellent (formal) Mr./Ms. Secretary of State (informal) |
| Abbreviation | SEDEF |
| Reports to | Minister of Defence |
| Seat | Ministry of Defence HQ, Paseo de la Castellana no. 109 |
| Nominator | Minister of Defence |
| Appointer | The King |
| Term length | No fixed term |
| Constituting instrument | Royal Decree 135/1984 |
| Precursor | Undersecretary of Defence |
| Formation | January 25, 1984 |
| First holder | Eduardo Serra Rexach |
| Salary | € 113,166.19 per year[1] |
| Website | defensa.gob.es |
The Secretary of State for Defence (SEDEF) is the second-highest-ranking official in the Ministry of Defence of Spain. The SEDEF is a civilian which is appointed by the King with the advice of the Defence Minister. In spite of being the second authority of the Ministry, it is behind the Chief of the Defence Staff as far as military control is concerned.
The duties of the SEDEF are related to management and control of the economic resources, the armament policy and the defence infraestructures.
The current Secretary of State for Defence, since May 11, 2022, is Ms. Amparo Valcarce, former Undersecretary of Defence.[2]
Functions
[edit]The current functions are regulated by a Royal Decree of 2024, and are the following:[3]
The Secretary of State for Defense is the highest body of the Department responsible for the direction, promotion and management of weapons and material policies, and for the research, development and industrial, economic, infrastructure, environmental and systems, technologies and security of information innovation in the field of Defence.
Apart from these, SEDEF can carry out all those functions delegated to it by the Minister of Defense.
Structure
[edit]From the Secretary of State for Defence depends:[3]
- The Directorate-General for Strategy and Innovation of the Defense Industry (DIGIED).
- It is responsible for designing the national defense industrial strategy, planning weapons and material and R&D&I policies, as well as helping the internationalization of Spanish companies.
- The Directorate-General for Armament and Material (DGAM).
- It is the department responsible for the planning and development of the armament and material policy of the Ministry, as well as the supervision and direction of its execution.
- The Directorate-General for Economic Affairs (DIGENECO).
- It is the governing body responsible for the planning and development of the economic and financial policy of the Ministry, as well as the supervision and direction of its execution.
- The Directorate-General for Infrastructure (DIGENIN).
- It is the body responsible for the planning and development of the infrastructure, environmental and energy policies of the Ministry, as well as the supervision and direction of its execution.
- The Centre for Systems and Technologies of the Information and Communications.
- To which corresponds the planning and development of the policies of the systems, technologies and information security of the Department, as well as the supervision and direction of its execution. For these purposes, the competent bodies in the aforementioned matters of the Armed Forces and the autonomous agencies of the Department depend functionally on this center.
The following agencies also depends from the SEDEF:
- The National Institute for Aerospace Technology.
- It is the defense agency in charge of research and technological development in the fields of aeronautics, space, hydrodynamics, security and defense. It is commonly considered as Spain's Space Agency, but Spain has not have a Space Agency.
- The Institute for Housing, Infrastructure and Defense Equipment.
- It is the agency of the Ministry of Defense responsible for administering the assets of the ministry as well as ensuring that all military personnel and their families have a place to live.
- The Military Constructions Service.
- It is a department of the Institute for Housing, Infrastructure and Defense Equipment responsible for the construction of military installations and other constructions of national security interest.
List of secretaries of state
[edit]Before this office was created, all its duties were carried out by the Undersecretary of Defence.
| No. | Image | Name | Term of office | Ministers of Defence serving under: |
Prime Minister appointed by: | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Began | Ended | Days of service | |||||
| 1st | 
|
Eduardo Serra Rexach | 9 February 1984 | 18 July 1987 | 1255 | Narcís Serra i Serra | Felipe González |
| 2nd |
|
Rafael de la Cruz Corcoll | 23 April 1988 | 12 October 1991 | 1267 | Narcís Serra i Serra Julián García Vargas | |
| 3rd |
|
José Miguel Hernández Vázquez | 12 October 1991 | 3 October 1992 | 357 | Julián García Vargas | |
| 4th |
|
Antonio Flos Bassols | 10 October 1992 | 29 April 1995 | 931 | Julián García Vargas | |
| 5th |
|
Juan Ramón García Secades | 8 July 1995 | 11 May 1996 | 308 | Julián García Vargas Gustavo Suárez Pertierra | |
| 6th | 
|
Pedro Morenés | 25 May 1996 | 6 May 2000 | 1442 | Eduardo Serra Rexach | José María Aznar |
| 7th |
|
Fernando Díez Moreno | 6 May 2000 | 20 April 2004 | 1445 | Federico Trillo | |
| 8th | .jpg)
|
Francisco Pardo Piqueras | 20 April 2004 | 21 April 2007 | 1096 | José Bono José Antonio Alonso |
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero |
| 9th |
|
Soledad López Fernández | 21 April 2007 | 15 April 2008 | 360 | José Antonio Alonso | |
| 10th |
|
Constantino Méndez Martínez | 15 April 2008 | 31 December 2011 | 1355 | Carme Chacón Piqueras Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba | |
| 11th | .jpg)
|
Pedro Argüelles Salaverría | 6 January 2012 | 19 November 2016 | 1779 | Pedro Morenés | Mariano Rajoy |
| 12th | 
|
Agustín Conde Bajén | 19 November 2016 | 9 June 2018 | 567 | María Dolores de Cospedal | |
| 13th | 
|
Ángel Olivares Ramírez[4] | 9 June 2018 | 24 June 2020 | 746 | Margarita Robles | Pedro Sánchez |
| 14th | .jpg)
|
Esperanza Casteleiro[5] | 1 July 2020 | 11 May 2022 | 679 | ||
| 15th |
|
Amparo Valcarce | 11 May 2022 | Incumbent | 1093 | ||
References
[edit]- ^ "Retribuciones para el año 2017 para el organismo Ministerio de Defensa". transparencia.gob.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-09-21.
- ^ InfoDefensa, Revista Defensa. "Amparo Valcarce, nueva secretaria de Estado de Defensa". Infodefensa - Noticias de defensa, industria, seguridad, armamento, ejércitos y tecnología de la defensa (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-05-11.
- ^ a b Ministry of Defence (2024-09-11), Royal Decree 896/2024, of September 10, which modifies Royal Decree 1009/2023, of December 5, which establishes the basic organic structure of the ministerial departments, and Royal Decree 205/2024, of February 27, which develops the basic organic structure of the Ministry of Defense. (in Spanish), pp. 112854–112859, retrieved 2025-04-27
- ^ "Angel Olivares Ramirez sworn-in as the new Secretary of State for Defence". epa european pressphoto agency b.v. Retrieved 2018-09-21.
- ^ Infodefensa.com, Revista Defensa (2020-07-01). "Robles renueva la cúpula civil del Ministerio de Defensa - Noticias Infodefensa España". Infodefensa.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-07-02.