Second government of Adolfo Suárez

The second government of Adolfo Suárez was formed on 5 July 1977, following the latter's confirmation as Prime Minister of Spain by King Juan Carlos I on 17 June, as a result of the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) emerging as the largest parliamentary force at the 1977 general election.^[1] It succeeded the first Suárez government and was the Government of Spain from 5 July 1977 to 6 April 1979, a total of 640 days, or 1 year, 9 months and 1 day.^[2][3]

2nd government of Adolfo Suárez
Government of Spain
1977–1979
Adolfo Suárez in March 1978.
Date formed	5 July 1977
Date dissolved	6 April 1979
People and organisations
Monarch	Juan Carlos I
Prime Minister	Adolfo Suárez
Deputy Prime Ministers	Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado1st, Enrique Fuentes Quintana2nd, Fernando Abril Martorell3rd (1977–1978) Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado1st, Fernando Abril Martorell2nd (1978–1979)
No. of ministers	19[a] (1977; 1978) 18[a] (1977–1978; 1978–1979)
Total no. of members	24[a]
Member party	UCD
Status in legislature	Minority government
Opposition party	PSOE
Opposition leader	Felipe González
History
Election	1977 general election
Outgoing election	1979 general election
Legislature term	Constituent Cortes
Budget	1978
Predecessor	Suárez I
Successor	Suárez III

Suárez's second cabinet was initially made up by independents and members from the political parties that had run within the UCD alliance, most of whom would end up joining it upon its transformation into a full-fledged political party.^[4][5][6] It was automatically dismissed on 2 March 1979 as a consequence of the 1979 general election, but remained in acting capacity until the next government was sworn in.^[7]

Cabinet changes

Suárez's second government saw a number of cabinet changes during its tenure:

• On 1 September 1977, the Ministry of Culture and Welfare was renamed as Ministry of Culture, with a restructuring of the ministerial department that saw some of its competences transferred to other ministries, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.^[8][9]
• On 27 September 1977, Ignacio Camuñas stepped down as Deputy Minister of Relations with the Cortes, without portfolio, over political discrepancies on the UCD's composition as a unitary political party.^[10][11] After his resignation, Camuñas's office was discontinued.^[12]
• On 11 February 1978, Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo was appointed to the newly created post of Minister of Relations with the European Communities, without portfolio.^[13][14]
• On 25 February 1978, a major cabinet reshuffle resulting from the resignation of Enrique Fuentes Quintana saw Fernando Abril Martorell being reassigned as new Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy; Manuel Jiménez de Parga was replaced as Minister of Labour by Rafael Calvo Ortega; Agustín Rodríguez Sahagún replaced Alberto Oliart in the Ministry of Industry and Energy; Jaime Lamo de Espinosa became new Minister of Agriculture in place of José Enrique Martínez Genique; and the Ministry of Transport and Communications saw the change from José Lladó to Salvador Sánchez-Terán.^[15][16]
• On 23 March 1979, Landelino Lavilla was elected President of the Congress of Deputies of the 1st Legislature, a position incompatible with his post as acting Minister of Justice. Rodolfo Martín Villa, acting Minister of the Interior, took on the ordinary duties of the affairs of Lavilla's vacant ministry.^[17]

Council of Ministers

The Council of Ministers was structured into the offices for the prime minister, the three deputy prime ministers and 18 ministries, including a number of deputy ministers without portfolio.^[18][19] From February 1978, the council would only include two deputy prime ministers.^[16]

← Suárez II Government → (5 July 1977 – 6 April 1979)
Portfolio	Name	Party		Took office	Left office	Ref.
Prime Minister	Adolfo Suárez		UCD (Ind.)[b]	17 June 1977	2 April 1979	[1]
First Deputy Prime Minister Minister of Defence	Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado		Military	5 July 1977	6 April 1979	[19] [20]
Second Deputy Prime Minister Minister of Economy	Enrique Fuentes Quintana		UCD (Ind.)	5 July 1977	25 February 1978	[20] [21]
Third Deputy Prime Minister	Fernando Abril Martorell		UCD (Ind.)[b]	5 July 1977	25 February 1978	[21]
Minister of Foreign Affairs	Marcelino Oreja		UCD (Ind.)[b]	5 July 1977	6 April 1979	[19]
Minister of Justice	Landelino Lavilla		UCD (Ind.)[b]	5 July 1977	22 March 1979	[19]
Minister of Finance	Francisco Fernández Ordóñez		UCD (PSD)[b]	5 July 1977	6 April 1979	[20]
Minister of the Interior	Rodolfo Martín Villa		UCD (Ind.)[b]	5 July 1977	6 April 1979	[20]
Minister of Public Works and Urbanism	Joaquín Garrigues Walker		UCD (FPDL)[b]	5 July 1977	6 April 1979	[20]
Minister of Education and Science	Íñigo Cavero		UCD (PDC)[b]	5 July 1977	6 April 1979	[20]
Minister of Labour	Manuel Jiménez de Parga		UCD (Ind.)[b]	5 July 1977	25 February 1978	[20]
Minister of Industry and Energy	Alberto Oliart		UCD (Ind.)	5 July 1977	25 February 1978	[20]
Minister of Agriculture	José Enrique Martínez Genique		UCD (Ind.)	5 July 1977	25 February 1978	[20]
Minister of Trade and Tourism	Juan Antonio García Díez		UCD (PSD)[b]	5 July 1977	6 April 1979	[20]
Minister of the Presidency	José Manuel Otero		UCD (Ind.)[b]	5 July 1977	6 April 1979	[20]
Minister of Transport and Communications	José Lladó		UCD (Ind.)	5 July 1977	25 February 1978	[20]
Minister of Health and Social Security	Enrique Sánchez de León		UCD (AREX)[b]	5 July 1977	6 April 1979	[20]
Minister of Culture and Welfare	Pío Cabanillas Gallas		UCD (PP)[b]	5 July 1977	1 September 1977	[20]
Deputy Minister for the Regions, without portfolio	Manuel Clavero		UCD (PSLA)[b]	5 July 1977	6 April 1979	[20]
Deputy Minister for Relations with the Cortes, without portfolio	Ignacio Camuñas		UCD (PDP)[b]	5 July 1977	27 September 1977	[20]
Changes September 1977
Portfolio	Name	Party		Took office	Left office	Ref.
Minister of Culture[c]	Pío Cabanillas Gallas		UCD (PP)[b]	1 September 1977	6 April 1979	[9]
Deputy Minister for Relations with the Cortes, without portfolio	Discontinued on 30 September 1977 upon the officeholder's dismissal.[22]
Changes February 1978
Portfolio	Name	Party		Took office	Left office	Ref.
Second Deputy Prime Minister[d] Minister of Economy	Fernando Abril Martorell		UCD	25 February 1978	6 April 1979	[24] [25]
Minister of Labour	Rafael Calvo Ortega		UCD	25 February 1978	6 April 1979	[25]
Minister of Industry and Energy	Agustín Rodríguez Sahagún		UCD	25 February 1978	6 April 1979	[25]
Minister of Agriculture	Jaime Lamo de Espinosa		UCD	25 February 1978	6 April 1979	[25]
Minister of Transport and Communications	Salvador Sánchez-Terán		UCD	25 February 1978	6 April 1979	[25]
Minister for Relations with the European Communities, without portfolio	Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo		UCD	11 February 1978	6 April 1979	[26]
Changes 1979
Portfolio	Name	Party		Took office	Left office	Ref.
Minister of Justice	Rodolfo Martín Villa took on the ordinary discharge of duties from 22 March 1979.[27]

Departmental structure

Adolfo Suárez's second government is organised into several superior and governing units, whose number, powers and hierarchical structure may vary depending on the ministerial department.^[28][29]

Unit/body rank

• (■) Secretary of state
• (■) Undersecretary
• (■) Director-general
• (●) Autonomous agency
• (◆) Military & intelligence agency

Office (Original name)	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Alliance/party			Ref.
Prime Minister's Office
Prime Minister (Presidencia del Gobierno)		Adolfo Suárez	17 June 1977	2 April 1979			UCD (UCD from Dec 1977; Indep. until Dec 1977)
First Deputy Prime Minister (Vicepresidencia Primera del Gobierno)		Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado	5 July 1977	6 April 1979			UCD (Military)
Second Deputy Prime Minister (Vicepresidencia Segunda del Gobierno)		Enrique Fuentes Quintana	5 July 1977	25 February 1978			Independent
		Fernando Abril Martorell	25 February 1978	6 April 1979			UCD
Third Deputy Prime Minister (Vicepresidencia Tercera del Gobierno) (until 25 February 1978)		Fernando Abril Martorell	5 July 1977	25 February 1978			UCD (UCD from Dec 1977; Indep. until Dec 1977)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores)		Marcelino Oreja	5 July 1977	6 April 1979			UCD (UCD from Dec 1977; Indep. until Dec 1977)	[30]
Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Justice (Ministerio de Justicia)		Landelino Lavilla	5 July 1977	22 March 1979 (renounced)			UCD (UCD from Dec 1977; Indep. until Dec 1977)
		Rodolfo Martín Villa (ordinary discharge of duties)	22 March 1979	6 April 1979			UCD
Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (Ministerio de Defensa)		Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado	5 July 1977	6 April 1979			UCD (Military)	[31]
Ministry of Finance
Ministry of Finance (Ministerio de Hacienda)		Francisco Fernández Ordóñez	5 July 1977	6 April 1979			UCD (UCD from Dec 1977; PSD until Dec 1977)
Ministry of the Interior
Ministry of the Interior (Ministerio del Interior)		Rodolfo Martín Villa	5 July 1977	6 April 1979			UCD (UCD from Dec 1977; Indep. until Dec 1977)
Ministry of Public Works and Urbanism
Ministry of Public Works and Urbanism (Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Urbanismo)		Joaquín Garrigues Walker	5 July 1977	6 April 1979			UCD (UCD from Dec 1977; FPDL until Dec 1977)
Ministry of Education and Science
Ministry of Education and Science (Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia)		Íñigo Cavero	5 July 1977	6 April 1979			UCD (UCD from Dec 1977; PDC until Dec 1977)
Ministry of Labour
Ministry of Labour (Ministerio de Trabajo)		Manuel Jiménez de Parga	5 July 1977	25 February 1978			UCD (UCD from Dec 1977; Indep. until Dec 1977)
		Rafael Calvo Ortega	25 February 1978	6 April 1979			UCD
Ministry of Industry and Energy
Ministry of Industry and Energy (Ministerio de Industria y Energía)		Alberto Oliart	5 July 1977	25 February 1978			UCD (Independent)
		Agustín Rodríguez Sahagún	25 February 1978	6 April 1979			UCD
Ministry of Agriculture
Ministry of Agriculture (Ministerio de Agricultura)		José Enrique Martínez Genique	5 July 1977	25 February 1978			UCD (Independent)
		Jaime Lamo de Espinosa	25 February 1978	6 April 1979			UCD
Ministry of Trade and Tourism
Ministry of Trade and Tourism (Ministerio de Comercio y Turismo)		Juan Antonio García Díez	5 July 1977	6 April 1979			UCD (UCD from Dec 1977; PSD until Dec 1977)
Ministry of the Presidency
Ministry of the Presidency (Ministerio de la Presidencia)		José Manuel Otero	5 July 1977	6 April 1979			UCD (UCD from Dec 1977; Indep. until Dec 1977)
Ministry of Economy
Ministry of Economy (Ministerio de Economía)		Fernando Abril Martorell	5 July 1977	6 April 1979			UCD (UCD from Dec 1977; Indep. until Dec 1977)
Ministry of Transport and Communications
Ministry of Transport and Communications (Ministerio de Transportes y Comunicaciones)		José Lladó	5 July 1977	25 February 1978			UCD (Independent)
		Salvador Sánchez-Terán	25 February 1978	6 April 1979			UCD
Ministry of Health and Social Security
Ministry of Health and Social Security (Ministerio de Sanidad y Seguridad Social)		Enrique Sánchez de León	5 July 1977	6 April 1979			UCD (UCD from Dec 1977; AREX until Dec 1977)
Ministry of Culture
Ministry of Culture and Welfare (Ministerio de Cultura y Bienestar) (until 1 September 1977) Ministry of Culture (Ministerio de Cultura) (from 1 September 1977)		Pío Cabanillas Gallas	5 July 1977	6 April 1979			UCD (UCD from Dec 1977; PP until Dec 1977)
Ministers without portfolio
Deputy Minister for the Regions, without portfolio (Ministro adjunto para las Regiones, sin cartera)		Manuel Clavero	5 July 1977	6 April 1979			UCD (UCD from Dec 1977; PSLA until Dec 1977)
Deputy Minister for Relations with the Cortes, without portfolio (Ministro adjunto para las Relaciones con las Cortes, sin cartera) (until 27 September 1977)		Ignacio Camuñas	5 July 1977	27 September 1977			UCD (PDP)
Minister for Relations with the European Communities, without portfolio (Ministro para las Relaciones con las Comunidades Europeas, sin cartera) (from 11 February 1978)		Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo	11 February 1978	6 April 1979			UCD

Notes

1. Does not include the Prime Minister.
2. Joined the UCD in December 1977.
3. On 1 September 1977, the Ministry of Culture and Welfare was reorganized as the Ministry of Culture.^[9]
4. Following Enrique Fuentes Quintana's stepping down as Second Deputy Prime Minister on 25 February 1978, the Third Deputy Prime Minister was promoted to second deputy status.^[23]