List of ministers of defence (Spain)

This article is about Spanish defence ministers. For previous War/Army ministers, see Minister of War (Spain). For previous Navy ministers, see Ministry of the Navy (Spain). For previous Air Force ministers, see Ministry of the Navy (Spain).

The minister of defence is the highest authority of Spain's Ministry of Defence, which is in charge of the preparation, development and execution of the defense policy determined by its government, as well as the management of the Military Administration.

Minister of Defence
Ministro de Defensa de España
National Emblem
Incumbent Margarita Robles since 7 June 2018
Ministry of Defence
Style	Mr./Ms. Minister (informal) The Most Excellent (formal)
Status	Head of a ministry
Abbreviation	MINISDEF
Member of	Council of Ministers National Security Council National Defence Council
Reports to	Prime Minister
Residence	Ministry of Defense HQ, 11th floor
Seat	Ministry of Defense Headquarters Madrid
Nominator	Prime Minister
Appointer	Monarch countersigned by the Prime Minister
Term length	No term fixed
Precursor	Minister of War Minister of the Navy Minister of the Air
Formation	17 May 1937
First holder	Indalecio Prieto as Minister of National Defence

List of officeholders

Second Spanish Republic (1931–1939)

See also: Second Spanish Republic

No.	Portrait	Name (born–died)	Term of office			Political party		Government	Ref.
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
Minister of National Defence
1		Indalecio Prieto (1883–1962)	17 May 1937	5 April 1938	323 days		PSOE	Negrín I
2		Juan Negrín (1892–1956)	5 April 1938	6 March 1939	360 days		PSOE	Negrín II

Francoist Spain (1936–1975)

See also: Francoist Spain

No.	Portrait	Name (born–died)	Term of office			Political party		Government	Ref.
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
Minister of National Defence
1		Fidel Dávila Arrondo (1878–1962)	31 January 1938	9 August 1939	360 days		Military	Franco I	[1][2]
Split into Minister of the Army, Minister of the Navy and Minister of the Air

Kingdom of Spain (1975–present)

See also: Spain

No.	Portrait	Name (born–died)	Term of office			Political party		Government	Ref.
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
Minister of Defence
Reign of Juan Carlos I (1975–2014)
1		Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado (1912–1995)	4 July 1977	5 April 1979	1 year, 275 days		Military	Suárez II	[3]
2		Agustín Rodríguez Sahagún (1932–1991)	6 April 1979	27 February 1981	1 year, 327 days		UCD	Suárez III	[4]
3		Alberto Oliart (1928–2021)	26 February 1981	3 December 1982	1 year, 280 days		UCD	Calvo-Sotelo	[5]
4		Narcís Serra (born 1943)	3 December 1982	12 March 1991	8 years, 99 days		PSOE	González I–II–III	[6][7] [8]
5		Julián García Vargas (born 1945)	12 March 1991	3 July 1995	4 years, 113 days		PSOE	González III–IV	[9][10]
6		Gustavo Suárez Pertierra (born 1949)	3 July 1995	5 May 1996	307 days		PSOE	González IV	[11]
7		Eduardo Serra Rexach (born 1946)	5 May 1996	27 April 2000	3 years, 358 days		Independent	Aznar I	[12]
8		Federico Trillo (born 1952)	28 April 2000	18 April 2004	3 years, 356 days		PP	Aznar II	[13]
9		José Bono (born 1950)	18 April 2004	7 April 2006	1 year, 354 days		PSOE	Zapatero I	[14]
10		José Antonio Alonso (1960–2017)	7 April 2006	14 April 2008	2 years, 7 days		PSOE	Zapatero I	[15]
11		Carme Chacón (1971–2017)	14 April 2008[a]	22 December 2011	3 years, 252 days		PSOE	Zapatero II	[17]
12		Pedro Morenés (born 1948)	22 December 2011	19 June 2014	2 years, 179 days		Independent	Rajoy I	[18][19]
Reign of Felipe VI (2014–present)
12		Pedro Morenés (born 1948)	19 June 2014	4 November 2016	2 years, 138 days		Independent	Rajoy I	[18][19]
13		María Dolores de Cospedal (born 1965)	4 November 2016	1 June 2018	1 year, 209 days		PP	Rajoy II	[20]
14		Margarita Robles (born 1956)	7 June 2018	Incumbent	7 years, 63 days		Independent	Sánchez I–II–III	[21][22][23]

See also

• Ministry of Defence (Spain)