National Security Council (Spain)

The National Security Council (Spanish: Consejo de Seguridad Nacional, CSN) of Spain is the principal advisory body used by the Prime Minister for considerations of national security and foreign policy matters with senior ranks of the Administration with competencies in these matters. It was created in 2013 with the unanimous agreement of all political forces in the Cortes Generales within the framework of the National Security Strategy.^[1]

National Security Council

Consejo de Seguridad Nacional
A Council's meeting in 2019
Agency overview
Formed	July 11, 2013; 12 years ago (2013-07-11)
Preceding agency	Government Delegated Committee for Crisis Management (1986–2013)
Jurisdiction	Spain
Agency executives	Felipe VI, Monarch Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister See full members in Members
Child agencies	Situation Committee National Cybersecurity Council National Maritime Safety Council Specialized Immigration Committee Specialized Committee on Energy Security Specialized Non-Proliferation Committee Specialized Committee against Terrorism National Aerospace Safety Council
Website	https://www.dsn.gob.es/es

Constitutive session of the Council chaired by King Juan Carlos I and in which the Prince of Asturias, Felipe, also participated.

CSN meetings are only held when convened by the Prime Minister.^[1]

Functions

According to the National Security Act 36/2015 (LSN), CSN has the following functions:^[2]

• To dictate the necessary guidelines in the planning and coordination of the National Security policy.
• To direct and coordinate by Royal Decree the actions of management of crisis situations in the terms foreseen in Title III of the LSN.
• To supervise and coordinate, by Royal Decree, the National Security System.
• Verify the degree of compliance with the National Security Strategy and promote its revisions.
• Promote and encourage the development of the necessary second level strategies and, if necessary, proceed to their approval, as well as their periodic reviews.
• Organize by Royal Decree, the contribution of resources to National Security in accordance with the provisions of the LSN.
• To approve the Annual National Security Report before its presentation in the Cortes Generales.
• Agree the creation and strengthening of the necessary support organs for the performance of their functions.
• To promote the necessary normative proposals for the strengthening of the National Security System.
• Carry out the other functions attributed to it by the applicable legal and regulatory provisions.
• To advise and inform, at least once a year, the King of Spain in his capacity as Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. The king is chairman of the CSN when he attends its sessions.

In case of crisis:

• The National Security Council shall determine the liaison and coordination mechanisms necessary for the National Security System to be activated in a preventive manner and to monitor the situations likely to arise in a situation of National Security interest.
• In the situation of interest to the National Security, the President of the Government will call the National Security Council to exercise the functions of management and coordination of the management of said Situation, all without prejudice to the application of the legislation in matters of National Defense and of the powers that correspond to the Council of Ministers. In cases where the President of the Government decides to designate a functional authority for the promotion and coordinated management of the actions, the National Security Council will advise on the appointment of such authority.
• The National Security Council shall advise the President of the Government when the situation requires the application of exceptional measures provided for in the crisis management instruments of the international organizations of which Spain is a member, without prejudice to the powers of the Ministers and of the provisions in the legislation on National Defense.

Members

• Felipe VI, The King
• Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister
• María Jesús Montero, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
• Yolanda Díaz, Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labour
• Teresa Ribera, Third Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge
• José Manuel Albares, Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Félix Bolaños, Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Cortes
• Margarita Robles, Minister of Defence
• Fernando Grande-Marlaska, Minister of the Interior
• Óscar Puente, Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility
• Jordi Hereu, Minister of Industry and Tourism
• Carlos Cuerpo, Minister of Economy, Trade and Business
• Mónica García, Minister of Health
• Diana Morant, Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities
• Óscar López Águeda, Minister for Digital Transformation and Civil Service
• Diego Rubio Rodriguez, Moncloa Chief of Staff
• Diego Martínez Belío, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
• Rafael Pérez Ruiz, Secretary of State for Security
• Teodoro Esteban López Calderón, Chief of the Defence Staff
• Esperanza Casteleiro, Director of the National Intelligence Centre
• Loreto Gutiérrez Hurtado, Director of the Homeland Security Department

Support bodies

A meeting of the Situation Committee in 2014, chaired by Deputy PM Sáenz de Santamaría.

The National Security Act, in its article 21, section 1, letter h, grants the Council the power to create support bodies to carry out its functions. Since 2013, 8 support bodies have been created:

• Situation Committee. Created in 2013 to support the CSN in its functions as crisis manager.
• National Cybersecurity Council, created in 2013.
• National Maritime Safety Council, created in 2013.
• Specialized Immigration Committee, created in 2014.
• Specialized Committee on Energy Security, created in 2017.
• Specialized Non-Proliferation Committee, created in 2017.
• Specialized Committee against Terrorism, created in 2020.
• National Aerospace Safety Council, created in 2020.

Meetings

Since its inception, the National Security Council has convened 41 times.^[3]

Date	Place	Chaired by	Matters discussed	Ref.
11 July 2013	Zarzuela Palace	King Juan Carlos I	Constitutive meeting. Council's internal rules; National Security Act draft bill. Crown Prince Felipe also attended.	[4][5]
20 September 2013	Moncloa Palace	Mariano Rajoy	International policy issues, specifically but not only about the Middle East. Procedural issues about the National Security Act draft bill.	[6]
5 December 2013	Moncloa Palace	Mariano Rajoy	The Council approved the Cybersecurity and Maritime Safety Strategies and it created the Situation Committee and the National Maritime Safety and National Cybersecurity councils.	[7]
14 February 2014	Moncloa Palace	Mariano Rajoy	The evolution of the strategies approved on previous meetings; the status of the international missions of the Armed Forces and the works on the National Security Act draft bill.	[8]
25 April 2014	Moncloa Palace	Mariano Rajoy	National and international matters important to the national security and the approval of the first Annual Report about National Security.	[9]
10 July 2014	Zarzuela Palace	King Felipe VI	To inform The King about the work made by the Council in its first year of life as well as discussing issues important to national security. The Council approved the creation of the Specialized Immigration Committee.	[10][5]
31 October 2014	Moncloa Palace	Mariano Rajoy	Actions taken by the Special Committee about the Ébola virus. Issues relating to maritime safety, cybersecurity and immigration were also discussed.	[11]
23 January 2015	Moncloa Palace	Mariano Rajoy	Jihadist terrorism and violent radicalization.	[12]
24 April 2015	Moncloa Palace	Mariano Rajoy	National and international matters important to the national security. Among them, the migratory crisis in the Mediterranean and the situation in Libya (Libyan Civil War) stand out. The Council also approved the Annual Report about National Security and the National Plan to comply with the United Nations Resolution 1540.	[13]
20 July 2015	Zarzuela Palace	King Felipe VI	National Security Act draft bill; humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean and jihadist terrorism. The Council also approved the National Energy Security Strategy.	[14]
14 November 2015	Moncloa Palace	Mariano Rajoy	Extraordinary meeting of the Council to discuss the November 2015 Paris attacks and the actions of the government in this matter.	[15]
20 November 2015	Moncloa Palace	Mariano Rajoy	National and international matters important to the national security. Specifically, the government's measures in response to the 2015 Paris attacks were analyzed.	[16]
27 May 2016	Moncloa Palace	Mariano Rajoy	Mediterranean migration crisis, refugees and measures taken by Spain; jihadist terrorism; Venezuela's situation. The Council approved the Annual Report about National Security.	[17]
20 January 2017	Moncloa Palace	Mariano Rajoy	National and international matters important to the national security. Specifically, jihadist terrorism and consequences of the bad weather in the country. It was also discussed the instability of certain geographical areas important to the Spanish national security; the Council approved the 2016 Annual Report; and the works to the new National Security Strategy were started. The Council approved the creation of the Specialized Committee on Energy Security.	[18]
1 December 2017	Moncloa Palace	Mariano Rajoy	National and international matters important to the national security. The Council approved the new National Security Strategy and the creation of the Specialized Committee on the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction. It also discussed the accession of Spain to the PESCO Program.	[19]
16 July 2018	Zarzuela Palace	King Felipe VI	Mediterranean migration crisis; jihadist terrorism and the international deployment of the Armed Forces.	[20]
21 January 2019	Moncloa Palace	Pedro Sánchez	First meeting held in the new facilities of the Department of National Security. The Council discussed and approved the National Strategy against Organized Crime and Serious Crime 2019-2023, the National Bio-custody Plan (for the effective custody of relevant biological agents, controlling their access and the physical protection of the facilities where these agents are handled, as well as their safe transport) and the new National Strategy Against Terrorism.	[21]
15 March 2019	Moncloa Palace	Pedro Sánchez	The Council approved the 2018 Annual Report about National Security, the Maritime Safety Action Plan and it also discussed procedures to prevent fake news. The Secretary of State for Press was convened to the meeting for the first time.	[22]
12 April 2019	Moncloa Palace	Pedro Sánchez	The Council discussed and approved three new strategies: on Aerospace Safety, Civil Defence and Cybersecurity; and it created the Coordination Network for Electoral Processes Security.	[23]
4 March 2020	Zarzuela Palace	King Felipe VI	To inform The King about national security issues as well discuss them. The Council approved the creation of the National Aerospace Safety Council and the Specialized Committee against Terrorism.	[24]
22 June 2020	Zarzuela Palace	King Felipe VI	To inform The King about national security issues and to analyze the situation relating the COVID-19 pandemic.	[25]
6 October 2020	Moncloa Palace	Pedro Sánchez	The Council discussed the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, it approved new procedures for the new National Security and Energy Safety strategies and it approved a new Procedure for Action against Disinformation. Likewise, the Council approved the creation of a strategic reserve of national capacities for industrial production and the national strategic plans for the Prevention and Fight against Violent Radicalization and the Fight Against the Financing of Terrorism.	[26]
9 March 2021	Moncloa Palace	Pedro Sánchez	National security and immigration issues; COVID-19 pandemic and vaccination; terrorism; cybercrime and cybersecurity.	[27]
18 November 2021	Zarzuela Palace	King Felipe VI	To inform The King about national security issues. Among other issues, the proposal to update the National Security Strategy 2021 and the National Cybersecurity Plan were discussed.	[28]
24 February 2022	Zarzuela Palace	King Felipe VI	The CSN discussed matters related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.	[29]
4 March 2022	Moncloa Palace	Pedro Sánchez	Meeting to analyze the evolution of the invasion of Ukraine and the arrival of refugees from this country to Spain.	[30]
21 June 2022	Moncloa Palace	Pedro Sánchez	Mainly, the war in Ukraine and its national and international effects were discussed. Likewise, topics such as terrorism and maritime security were also addressed.	[31]
11 October 2022	Moncloa Palace	Pedro Sánchez	As in this year's meetings, the Russian invasion and its consequences were discussed.	[32]
11 February 2023	Moncloa Palace	Pedro Sánchez	The Russian invasion of Ukraine was discussed, as well as the fight against the illicit enrichment of criminal organizations and delinquents, and the development of the National Strategy against the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction.	[33]
12 April 2023	Zarzuela Palace	King Felipe VI	Among other issues, the situation in Ukraine and the regulation of the National Aerospace Safety Council were discussed.	[34]
19 March 2024	Moncloa Palace	Pedro Sánchez	The Annual National Security Report for the year 2023 was approved, as well as the new national strategies against Terrorism and Maritime Security. Likewise, the international situation regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the war in Gaza was discussed.	[35]
16 April 2024	Moncloa Palace	Félix Bolaños	Topics related to the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan as well as digitalization were discussed. At the meeting, the National Security Scheme for 5G networks and services was approved.	[36]
26 August 2024	Moncloa Palace	Félix Bolaños	Unspecified.	[37]
15 October 2024	Zarzuela Palace	King Felipe VI	In addition to discussing current international conflicts, the new National Civil Protection Strategy was approved, as well as the creation of the Specialized Committee against Organized and Serious Crime, and the rules for developing the Aerospace Security Strategy.	[38]
28 January 2025	Moncloa Palace	Pedro Sánchez	Ttopics related to active international conflicts and the activities of the specialized committees that advise the National Security Council were discussed. The groundwork was also laid for the development of the National Strategy to Fight Disinformation .	[39]
24 April 2025	Zarzuela Palace	King Felipe VI	The Council agreed to proceed with the review and update of the National Security Strategy.	[40]
28 April 2025	Moncloa Palace	Pedro Sánchez	Extraordinary meeting at 3:00 p.m. (CEST) to analyze and make decisions related to the situation caused by a massive blackout in the country.	[41]
			Extraordinary meeting at 7:00 p.m. (CEST) to analyze and make decisions related to the situation caused by a massive blackout in the country.	[42]
29 April 2025	Moncloa Palace	King Felipe VI	Extraordinary meeting at 9:00 a.m. (CEST) to analyze and make decisions related to the situation caused by a massive blackout in the country.	[43]
		Pedro Sánchez	Extraordinary meeting at 2:00 p.m. (CEST) to analyze and make decisions related to the situation caused by a massive blackout in the country.	[44]
			Extraordinary meeting at 7:00 p.m. (CEST) to analyze and make decisions related to the situation caused by a massive blackout in the country.