Third government of Adolfo Suárez

The third government of Adolfo Suárez was formed on 6 April 1979, following the latter's election as Prime Minister of Spain by the Congress of Deputies on 30 March and his swearing-in on 2 April, as a result of the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) emerging as the largest parliamentary force at the 1979 Spanish general election.^[1][2] It succeeded the second Suárez government and was the Government of Spain from 6 April 1979 to 27 February 1981, a total of 693 days, or 1 year, 10 months and 21 days.^[3]

3rd government of Adolfo Suárez
Government of Spain
1979–1981
The government in May 1980 (top) and September 1980 (bottom).
Date formed	6 April 1979
Date dissolved	27 February 1981
People and organisations
Monarch	Juan Carlos I
Prime Minister	Adolfo Suárez
Deputy Prime Ministers	Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado1st, Fernando Abril Martorell2nd (1979–1980) Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado1st, Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo2nd (1980–1981)
No. of ministers	23[a] (1979–1980) 22[a] (1980–1981)
Total no. of members	30[a]
Member party	UCD
Status in legislature	Minority government
Opposition party	PSOE
Opposition leader	Felipe González
History
Election	1979 general election
Legislature term	1st Cortes Generales
Budget	1979, 1980, 1981
Predecessor	Suárez II
Successor	Calvo-Sotelo

Suárez's third cabinet was the first to be appointed under the Spanish Constitution of 1978,^[4] and was an all-UCD government plus two military officers (Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado and Antonio Ibáñez Freire);^[5][6] subsequent reshuffles in 1980 seeing would see the incorporation of a number of independents. It was automatically dismissed on 29 January 1981 as a consequence of Adolfo Suárez's resignation as Prime Minister, but remained in acting capacity until the next government was sworn in.^{[7][8][9][10]}

Investiture

Investiture Adolfo Suárez (UCD)
Ballot →		30 March 1979
Required majority →		176 out of 350 Y
	Yes • UCD (168) • CD (8) • PSA–PA (5) • PAR (1) • UPN (1)	183 / 350
	No • PSOE (94) • PCE–PSUC (23) • PSC (16) • PNV (6) • PSE (6) • UN (1) • ERC (1) • EE (1) • UPC (1)	149 / 350
	Abstentions • CiU (8)	8 / 350
	Absentees • PSOE (4) • HB (3) • PSC (1) • CD (1) • PNV (1)	10 / 350
Sources[1][11]

Cabinet changes

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

• On 17 January 1980, Manuel Clavero resigned as Minister of Culture over political differences with the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) on the issue of the Andalusian autonomy and his party's stance on the 28 February 1980 autonomy initiative referendum.^[12][13][14] He was replaced in the post by Ricardo de la Cierva, who was sworn into office on the following day.^[15] Suárez took the opportunity of Clavero's resignation to make another cabinet change, by transferring some of the powers from Rafael Arias-Salgado's department to José Pedro Pérez-Llorca's Ministry of the Presidency.^[16][17]
• On 3 May 1980, what had initially been planned as a minor cabinet readjustment intended to create a third deputy prime minister office for regional affairs under José Pedro Pérez-Llorca turned into a major reshuffle as a result of power struggles within the UCD: Antonio Ibáñez Freire (Interior), Carlos Bustelo (Industry and Energy) and Juan Antonio García Díez (Trade and Tourism) were replaced by Juan José Rosón, Ignacio Bayón and Luis Gámir, respectively. Pérez-Llorca's new appointment was limited to the Ministry of Territorial Administration, replacing Antonio Fontán, whereas Pérez-Llorca's former presidency department was reassigned to Rafael Arias-Salgado and its competences split into two additional deputy ministries headed by Sebastián Martín-Retortillo (Responsible for Public Administration) and Juan Antonio Ortega y Díaz-Ambrona (Responsible for Legislative Coordination). Salvador Sánchez-Terán was moved from Transport and Communications—which was assigned to José Luis Álvarez—to Labour (replacing Rafael Calvo Ortega) and the post of deputy minister held by Joaquín Garrigues Walker was abolished.^[18][19]
• The last cabinet reshuffle under Adolfo Suárez took place on 9 September 1980, on the eve of a motion of confidence called by Suárez upon his own government scheduled for 18 September, aimed at strengthening his stand within the UCD by having the most prominent figures from the party's ideological factions represented in the government. Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo replaced Fernando Abril Martorell as Second Deputy Prime Minister, Marcelino Oreja stepped down in favour of José Pedro Pérez-Llorca as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Íñigo Cavero was moved from Justice—assigned to Francisco Fernández Ordóñez—to Culture. Further changes were seen in Education (from José Manuel Otero to Juan Antonio Ortega y Díaz-Ambrona), Labour (Sánchez-Terán was replaced by Félix Manuel Pérez Miyares) and Calvo-Sotelo's vacant ministry, Relations with the European Communities (to Eduard Punset). The reshuffle also saw the recovery of some members from former cabinets, such as Alberto Oliart (in Health and Social Security), Juan Antonio García Díez (in Economy and Trade), Rodolfo Martín Villa (in Territorial Administration) and Pío Cabanillas Gallas (as deputy minister to the Prime Minister). Meanwhile, the deputy ministry for Legislative Coordination was abolished.^[20][21][22]

Council of Ministers

The Council of Ministers was structured into the offices for the prime minister, the two deputy prime ministers and 21 ministries, including a number of deputy ministers without portfolio.^[23] This number would be maintained in the May 1980 reshuffle with some changes within the deputy ministries,^[24] one of which would be abolished in the September 1980 reshuffle.^[25]

← Suárez III Government → (6 April 1979 – 27 February 1981)
Portfolio	Name	Party		Took office	Left office	Ref.
Prime Minister	Adolfo Suárez		UCD	2 April 1979	26 February 1981	[26]
First Deputy Prime Minister, in charge of the Coordination of the National Security and Defence Affairs	Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado		Military	6 April 1979	27 February 1981	[27]
Second Deputy Prime Minister, in charge of the Coordination of Economic Affairs	Fernando Abril Martorell		UCD	6 April 1979	9 September 1980	[28]
Minister of Foreign Affairs	Marcelino Oreja		UCD	6 April 1979	9 September 1980	[29]
Minister of Justice	Íñigo Cavero		UCD	6 April 1979	9 September 1980	[29]
Minister of Defence	Agustín Rodríguez Sahagún		UCD	6 April 1979	27 February 1981	[29]
Minister of Finance	Jaime García Añoveros		UCD	6 April 1979	27 February 1981	[29]
Minister of the Interior	Antonio Ibáñez Freire		Military	6 April 1979	3 May 1980	[29]
Minister of Public Works and Urbanism	Jesús Sancho Rof		UCD	6 April 1979	27 February 1981	[29]
Minister of Education	José Manuel Otero		UCD	6 April 1979	9 September 1980	[29]
Minister of Labour	Rafael Calvo Ortega		UCD	6 April 1979	3 May 1980	[29]
Minister of Industry and Energy	Carlos Bustelo		UCD	6 April 1979	3 May 1980	[29]
Minister of Agriculture	Jaime Lamo de Espinosa		UCD	6 April 1979	27 February 1981	[29]
Minister of Trade and Tourism	Juan Antonio García Díez		UCD	6 April 1979	3 May 1980	[29]
Minister of the Presidency	José Pedro Pérez-Llorca		UCD	6 April 1979	3 May 1980	[29]
Minister of Economy	José Luis Leal		UCD	6 April 1979	9 September 1980	[29]
Minister of Transport and Communications	Salvador Sánchez-Terán		UCD	6 April 1979	3 May 1980	[29]
Minister of Health and Social Security	Juan Rovira Tarazona		UCD	6 April 1979	9 September 1980	[29]
Minister of Culture	Manuel Clavero		UCD	6 April 1979	17 January 1980	[29]
Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister, without portfolio	Joaquín Garrigues Walker		UCD	6 April 1979	3 May 1980	[29]
Minister for Relations with the European Communities, without portfolio	Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo		UCD	6 April 1979	9 September 1980	[29]
Deputy Minister for Relations with the Cortes, without portfolio	Rafael Arias-Salgado		UCD	6 April 1979	18 January 1980	[29]
Minister of Territorial Administration	Antonio Fontán		UCD	6 April 1979	3 May 1980	[29]
Minister of Universities and Research	Luis González Seara		UCD	6 April 1979	27 February 1981	[29]
Changes January 1980
Portfolio	Name	Party		Took office	Left office	Ref.
Minister of Culture	Ricardo de la Cierva		UCD	18 January 1980	9 September 1980	[30]
Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister, without portfolio	Rafael Arias-Salgado		UCD	18 January 1980	3 May 1980	[31]
Changes May 1980
Portfolio	Name	Party		Took office	Left office	Ref.
Minister of the Interior	Juan José Rosón		UCD	3 May 1980	27 February 1981	[32]
Minister of Labour	Salvador Sánchez-Terán		UCD	3 May 1980	9 September 1980	[32]
Minister of Industry and Energy	Ignacio Bayón		UCD (Ind.)	3 May 1980	27 February 1981	[32]
Minister of Trade and Tourism	Luis Gámir		UCD	3 May 1980	9 September 1980	[32]
Minister of the Presidency	Rafael Arias-Salgado		UCD	3 May 1980	27 February 1981	[32]
Minister of Transport and Communications	José Luis Álvarez		UCD	3 May 1980	27 February 1981	[32]
Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister, without portfolio	Discontinued on 3 May 1980 upon the officeholder's dismissal.[33]
Minister of Territorial Administration	José Pedro Pérez-Llorca		UCD	3 May 1980	9 September 1980	[32]
Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister, without portfolio	Discontinued on 3 May 1980 upon the officeholder's dismissal.[33]
Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister, without portfolio, in charge of Public Administration	Sebastián Martín-Retortillo		UCD	3 May 1980	27 February 1981	[32]
Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister, without portfolio, in charge of Legislative Coordination	Juan Antonio Ortega y Díaz-Ambrona		UCD	3 May 1980	9 September 1980	[32]
Changes September 1980
Portfolio	Name	Party		Took office	Left office	Ref.
Second Deputy Prime Minister, in charge of the Coordination of Economic Affairs	Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo		UCD	9 September 1980	27 February 1981	[34]
Minister of Foreign Affairs	José Pedro Pérez-Llorca		UCD	9 September 1980	27 February 1981	[35]
Minister of Justice	Francisco Fernández Ordóñez		UCD	9 September 1980	27 February 1981	[35]
Minister of Education	Juan Antonio Ortega y Díaz-Ambrona		UCD	9 September 1980	27 February 1981	[35]
Minister of Labour	Félix Manuel Pérez Miyares		UCD	9 September 1980	27 February 1981	[35]
Minister of Economy Minister of Trade	Juan Antonio García Díez		UCD	9 September 1980	7 October 1980	[35]
Minister of Health and Social Security	Alberto Oliart		UCD (Ind.)[b]	9 September 1980	27 February 1981	[35]
Minister of Territorial Administration	Rodolfo Martín Villa		UCD	9 September 1980	27 February 1981	[35]
Minister of Culture	Íñigo Cavero		UCD	9 September 1980	27 February 1981	[35]
Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister, without portfolio	Pío Cabanillas Gallas		UCD	9 September 1980	27 February 1981	[35]
Minister for Relations with the European Communities, without portfolio	Eduard Punset		UCD	9 September 1980	27 February 1981	[35]
Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister, without portfolio, in charge of Legislative Coordination	Discontinued on 9 September 1980 upon the officeholder's dismissal.[37]
Changes October 1980
Portfolio	Name	Party		Took office	Left office	Ref.
Minister of Economy and Trade[c]	Juan Antonio García Díez		UCD	7 October 1980	27 February 1981	[38]
Minister of Trade[c]	Disestablished on 7 October 1980.[38]

Departmental structure

Adolfo Suárez's third government was organised into several superior and governing units, whose number, powers and hierarchical structure varied depending on the ministerial department.^[39][40]

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	2 April 1979	26 February 1981 (resigned)			UCD
First Deputy Prime Minister, in charge of the Coordination of the Security and National Defence Affairs (Vicepresidencia Primera del Gobierno, encargada de la coordinación de los asuntos de la Seguridad y Defensa Nacional)		Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado	6 April 1979	27 February 1981			UCD (Military)
Second Deputy Prime Minister, in charge of the Coordination of the Economic Affairs (Vicepresidencia Segunda del Gobierno, encargada de la coordinación de los asuntos económicos)		Fernando Abril Martorell	6 April 1979	9 September 1980			UCD
		Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo	9 September 1980	27 February 1981			UCD
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores)		Marcelino Oreja	6 April 1979	9 September 1980			UCD	[41]
		José Pedro Pérez-Llorca	9 September 1980	27 February 1981			UCD
	2 May 1979 – 28 February 1981 (■) State Secretariat for Foreign Affairs (■) Undersecretariat of Foreign Affairs (■) Technical General Secretariat (■) Directorate-General for Foreign Policy for Europe and Atlantic Affairs (■) Directorate-General for Foreign Policy for North America and the Pacific (■) Directorate-General for Foreign Policy for Africa and Continental Asia (■) Directorate-General for Foreign Policy for Ibero-America (■) Directorate-General for the Foreign Service (■) Directorate-General for International Economic Relations (■) Directorate-General for Cultural Relations (■) Directorate-General for Consular Affairs (■) Directorate-General for International Technical Coordination (■) Directorate-General for International Organizations and Conferences (■) Directorate-General of the Office for Diplomatic Information (■) Service for Protocol, Chancery and Orders–First Introducer of Ambassadors
Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Justice (Ministerio de Justicia)		Íñigo Cavero	6 April 1979	9 September 1980			UCD	[42] [43] [44]
		Francisco Fernández Ordóñez	9 September 1980	27 February 1981			UCD
	10 May 1979 – 17 August 1985 (■) Undersecretariat of Justice (■) Technical General Secretariat (■) Directorate-General for Justice (disest. 7 Nov 1980) (■) Technical Secretariat for Relations with the Administration of Justice (est. 7 Nov 1980) (■) Directorate-General for Religious Affairs (■) Directorate-General for Registries and Notaries (■) Directorate-General for Penitentiary Institutions
Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (Ministerio de Defensa)		Agustín Rodríguez Sahagún	6 April 1979	27 February 1981			UCD
Ministry of Finance
Ministry of Finance (Ministerio de Hacienda)		Jaime García Añoveros	6 April 1979	27 February 1981			UCD	[40] [45] [46] [47] [48]
	5 July 1977 – 8 December 1982 (■) Undersecretariat of Finance (■) Undersecretariat of Budgets and Public Expenditure (■) Directorate-General for the Treasury (■) Directorate-General for Budgets (■) Directorate-General for the State Heritage (■) Directorate-General for Insurance (■) Directorate-General for Customs (■) Directorate-General for State Litigation (■) Directorate-General for Taxes (■) Directorate-General for Tax Inspection and Investigation (■) Office of the Comptroller General of the State Administration (■) Technical General Secretariat
Ministry of the Interior
Ministry of the Interior (Ministerio del Interior)		Antonio Ibáñez Freire	6 April 1979	3 May 1980			UCD (Military)
		Juan José Rosón	3 May 1980	27 February 1981			UCD
Ministry of Public Works and Urbanism
Ministry of Public Works and Urbanism (Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Urbanismo)		Jesús Sancho Rof	6 April 1979	27 February 1981			UCD
Ministry of Education
Ministry of Education (Ministerio de Educación)		José Manuel Otero	6 April 1979	9 September 1980			UCD
		Juan Antonio Ortega y Díaz-Ambrona	9 September 1980	27 February 1981			UCD
Ministry of Labour
Ministry of Labour (Ministerio de Trabajo)		Rafael Calvo Ortega	6 April 1979	3 May 1980			UCD
		Salvador Sánchez-Terán	3 May 1980	9 September 1980			UCD
		Félix Manuel Pérez Miyares	9 September 1980	27 February 1981			UCD
Ministry of Industry and Energy
Ministry of Industry and Energy (Ministerio de Industria y Energía)		Carlos Bustelo	6 April 1979	3 May 1980			UCD	[40] [49] [50] [51] [52] [53]
		Ignacio Bayón	3 May 1980	27 February 1981			UCD (Independent)
	5 July 1977 – 4 July 1979 (■) Undersecretariat of Industry and Energy (■) Technical General Secretariat (■) Directorate-General for Mines and Construction Industries (■) Directorate-General for Energy (■) Directorate-General for Steel and Naval Industries (■) Directorate-General for Chemical and Textile Industries (■) Directorate-General for Food and Miscellaneous Industries (■) Directorate-General for Industrial Promotion and Technology 4 July 1979 – 7 October 1980 (■) Undersecretariat of Industry and Energy (■) Directorate-General for Services (■) Commissariat for Energy and Mineral Resources (■) Technical General Secretariat (■) Directorate-General for Mines and Construction Industries (■) Directorate-General for Energy (■) Directorate-General for Steel and Naval Industries (■) Directorate-General for Chemical and Textile Industries (■) Directorate-General for Food and Miscellaneous Industries (■) Directorate-General for Industrial Technology and Security 7 October 1980 – 8 December 1982 (■) Undersecretariat of Industry and Energy (■) Directorate-General for Services (disest. 15 Oct 1980) (■) Commissariat for Energy and Mineral Resources (■) Technical General Secretariat (■) Directorate-General for Mines (■) Directorate-General for Energy (■) Directorate-General for Steel and Naval Industries (■) Directorate-General for Chemical, Textile and Pharmaceutical Industries (■) Directorate-General for Automotive and Construction Industries (■) Directorate-General for Electronics and Informatics (■) Directorate-General for Food Industries and the Small and Medium-sized Industry (■) Directorate-General for Industrial Innovation and Technology
Ministry of Agriculture
Ministry of Agriculture (Ministerio de Agricultura)		Jaime Lamo de Espinosa	6 April 1979	27 February 1981			UCD
Ministry of Trade and Tourism
Ministry of Trade and Tourism (Ministerio de Comercio y Turismo) (until 9 September 1980)		Juan Antonio García Díez	6 April 1979	3 May 1980			UCD
		Luis Gámir	3 May 1980	9 September 1980			UCD
Ministry of the Presidency
Ministry of the Presidency (Ministerio de la Presidencia)		José Pedro Pérez-Llorca	6 April 1979	3 May 1980			UCD
		Rafael Arias-Salgado	3 May 1980	27 February 1981			UCD
Ministry of Economy
Ministry of Economy (Ministerio de Economía) (until 9 September 1980) Ministry of Economy; Ministry of Trade (Ministerio de Economía; Ministerio de Comercio) (9 September – 7 October 1980) Ministry of Economy and Trade (Ministerio de Economía y Comercio) (from 7 October 1980)		José Luis Leal	6 April 1979	9 September 1980			UCD	[40] [54] [55]
		Juan Antonio García Díez	9 September 1980	27 February 1981			UCD
	7 October 1980 – 7 March 1981 (■) Undersecretariat of Economy (■) Directorate-General for Economic Policy and Forecast (■) Directorate-General for Planning (■) Directorate-General for Financial Policy (■) Directorate-General for the National Institute of Statistics (■) Directorate-General for Competition and Consumer Affairs (■) Directorate-General for Trade Management (■) Directorate-General for Coordination and Services (■) Undersecretariat of Trade (■) Directorate-General for Trade Policy (■) Directorate-General for Tariff Policy and Imports (■) Directorate-General for Exports (■) Directorate-General for Foreign Transactions (■) Technical General Secretariat
Ministry of Transport and Communications
Ministry of Transport and Communications (Ministerio de Transportes y Comunicaciones)		Salvador Sánchez-Terán	6 April 1979	3 May 1980			UCD
		José Luis Álvarez	3 May 1980	27 February 1981			UCD
Ministry of Health and Social Security
Ministry of Health and Social Security (Ministerio de Sanidad y Seguridad Social)		Juan Rovira Tarazona	6 April 1979	9 September 1980			UCD
		Alberto Oliart	9 September 1980	27 February 1981			UCD (UCD from Dec 1980; Indep. until Dec 1980)
Ministry of Culture
Ministry of Culture (Ministerio de Cultura)		Manuel Clavero	6 April 1979	17 January 1980 (resigned)			UCD
		Ricardo de la Cierva	18 January 1980	9 September 1980			UCD
		Íñigo Cavero	9 September 1980	27 February 1981			UCD
Ministry of Territorial Administration
Ministry of Territorial Administration (Ministerio de Administración Territorial)		Antonio Fontán	6 April 1979	3 May 1980			UCD
		José Pedro Pérez-Llorca	3 May 1980	9 September 1980			UCD
		Rodolfo Martín Villa	9 September 1980	27 February 1981			UCD
Ministry of Universities and Research
Ministry of Universities and Research (Ministerio de Universidades e Investigación)		Luis González Seara	6 April 1979	27 February 1981			UCD
Ministers without portfolio
Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister, without portfolio (Ministro adjunto al Presidente, sin cartera) (until 3 May 1980)		Joaquín Garrigues Walker	6 April 1979	3 May 1980			UCD
Minister for Relations with the European Communities, without portfolio (Ministro para las Relaciones con las Comunidades Europeas, sin cartera)		Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo	6 April 1979	9 September 1980			UCD
		Eduard Punset	9 September 1980	27 February 1981			UCD
Deputy Minister for Relations with the Cortes, without portfolio (Ministro adjunto para las Relaciones con las Cortes, sin cartera) (until 18 January 1980) Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister, without portfolio (Ministro adjunto al Presidente, sin cartera) (18 January – 3 May 1980)		Rafael Arias-Salgado	6 April 1979	3 May 1980			UCD
Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister, without portfolio, in charge of Public Administration (Ministro adjunto al Presidente, sin cartera, encargado de la Administración Pública) (from 3 May 1980)		Sebastián Martín-Retortillo	3 May 1980	27 February 1981			UCD
Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister, without portfolio, in charge of Legislative Coordination (Ministro adjunto al Presidente, sin cartera, encargado de la Coordinación Legislativa) (3 May – 9 September 1980)		Juan Antonio Ortega y Díaz-Ambrona	3 May 1980	9 September 1980			UCD
Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister, without portfolio (Ministro adjunto al Presidente, sin cartera) (from 9 September 1980)		Pío Cabanillas Gallas	9 September 1980	27 February 1981			UCD

Notes

1. Does not include the Prime Minister.
2. Joined the UCD in December 1980.^[36]
3. On 7 October 1980, the ministries of Economy and the Trade were restructured and merged into the newly-established Ministry of Economy and Trade.^[38]