Spokesperson of the Government of Spain
Logo of the Palace of La Moncloa
Incumbent Pilar Alegría since November 21, 2023
Office of the Prime Minister
Style	Excelentísima Señora
Type	Minister without portfolio
Member of	Cabinet
Appointer	President of the Government
Formation	November 11, 1918; 105 years ago (1918-11-11)
First holder	Carlos Esplá
Deputy	Secretary of State of Press

The Spokesperson of the Government of Spain is a high ranking of the Government of Spain whose purpose is to inform and communicate to society the political and institutional action of the central government. Its headquarters is located in the denominated Complex of La Moncloa. Currently the holder of the position enjoys the rank of Minister.

History

The need to inform public opinion about government actions began in 1918 with the creation of the Ministry of Public Instruction and Fine Arts which had an Information Office. With the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera two successive organisms are created; First, the Bureau of Information and Press Censorship, during the Military Directory (1923), and the next in the Civil Directory (1925) with the Office of Information and Press Censorship.

During the Second Republic was born the Press Section affected the General Secretary of the President of the Republic (1932) and during the civil war, Largo Caballero, the prime minister, created the Ministry of Propaganda that had an ephemeral life.

In Francoist Spain the Ministry of Information and Tourism (1951) was created, a ministerial department that was in charge of controlling information, press and radio. To this, was added the administration of Tourism, an industry that had a significant flourishing during those years.

The return to democracy demanded the communication to the citizens about the government's actions, reason why it became necessary the appearance of the figure of the spokesperson. Following the Ministry of Information and Tourism, the next link in the chain of the Spanish Communicative Administration, is the Office of Information Services, created in October 1977 within the Presidency of the Government. ^[1]

In 1982, with the arrival of PSOE to the power, the Office of the Spokesperson of the Government directed by Eduardo Sotillos is created. In 1985, he is replaced by Javier Solana, Minister of Culture, who will alternate both responsibilities. Nevertheless, in 1988, the prime minister, Felipe González, decides to elevate the Office to rank of Ministry. Rosa Conde was appointed Minister-Spokesperson. ^[2]

With her resignation in 1993, the position was assumed by the Minister of the Presidency, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba. With the arrival to power of the People's Party, the position returns to have the same category that in 1985, assuming the position other Cabinet members, with the exception of the period from 2000 to 2003 in which it was again and independent position. It was later linked to the Ministry of the Presidency.

Since 2004, the Government Spokesperson has been assumed by the Vicepresident, except between 2009 and 2011 that was directed by the Minister of Public Works.

In 2016, this position was conferred on the Minister of Education, Culture and Sport, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo.

In 2018, after the Motion of no confidence, Isabel Celaá became the new Spokesperson of the Government of Spain. She was also named Minister of Education and Vocational Training. ^[3]

List of Spokesperson of the Government of Spain

Second Spanish Republic

Francoist Spain

Name		Picture	Term		Political Party	Government
	Gabriel Arias-Salgado		18 July 1951	10 July 1962	Falange	Francoist Government
	Manuel Fraga Iribarne		10 July 1962	29 October 1969	Falange	Francoist Government
	Alfredo Sánchez Bella		29 October 1969	11 June 1973	Falange	Francoist Government
	Fernando de Liñán y Zofio		11 June 1973	3 January 1974	Falange	Francoist Government
	Pío Cabanillas Gallas		3 January 1974	11 March 1975	Falange	Francoist Government
	León Herrera Esteban		11 March 1975	12 December 1975	Falange	Francoist Government

Juan Carlos I

Name		Picture	Term		Political Party	Prime Minister
	Adolfo Martín-Gamero		12 December 1975	5 July 1976	Falange	Third Arias Navarro Cabinet
	Andrés Reguera		5 July 1976	4 July 1977	UCD	Adolfo Suárez
	Manuel Ortíz Sánchez (2)		4 July 1977	1979	UCD
	Josep Meliá Pencas (2)		1979	October 1980	UCD
	Rosa Posada (2)		October 1980	26 February 1981	UCD
	Ignacio Aguirre Borrell (2)		26 February 1981	2 December 1981	UCD	Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo
	Eduardo Sotillos (2)		7 December 1982	5 July 1985	PSOE	Felipe González
	Javier Solana (3)		5 July 1985	7 July 1988	PSOE
	Rosa Conde (4)		7 July 1988	13 July 1993	PSOE
	Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba (5)		13 July 1993	5 May 1996	PSOE
	Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Bajón (6)		5 May 1996	16 July 1998	PP	José María Aznar
	Josep Piqué (7)		16 July 1998	27 April 2000	PP
	Pío Cabanillas Alonso (4)		27 April 2000	9 July 2002	PP
	Mariano Rajoy (5)		9 July 2002	3 September 2003	PP
	Eduardo Zaplana (8)		3 September 2003	17 April 2004	PP
	María Teresa Fernández de la Vega (9)		17 April 2004	21 October 2010	PSOE	José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
	Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba (10)		21 October 2010	12 July 2011	PSOE
	José Blanco López (11)		12 July 2011	21 December 2011	PSOE
	Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría (9)		21 December 2011	4 November 2016	PP	Mariano Rajoy

Felipe VI

Name		Picture	Term		Political Party	Prime Minister
	Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría (9)		21 December 2011	4 November 2016	PP	Mariano Rajoy
	Íñigo Méndez de Vigo (12)		4 November 2016	1 June 2018	PP
	Isabel Celaá (13)		7 June 2018	13 January 2020	PSOE	Pedro Sánchez
	María Jesús Montero (14)		13 January 2020	12 July 2021	PSOE
	Isabel Rodríguez García (15)		12 July 2021	21 November 2023	PSOE
	Pilar Alegría (16)		21 November 2023	Incumbent	PSOE

• (1) Minister of Propaganda
• (2) Secretary of State for Information (1977-1981), Secretary of State of Communication (1981-1982).
• (3) He combined it with the position of Minister of Culture (December 3, 1982 - 7 de July 7, 1988).
• (4) Spokesperson Minister of the Government
• (5) Minister of the Presidency.
• (6) Secretary of State of Communication, acted as Spokesperson de facto of the Government.
• (7) He combined it with the position of Minister of Industry and Energy (May 6, 1996 - April 27, 2000).
• (8) He combined it with the position of Employment and Social Affairs (July 10, 2002 - April 17, 2004).
• (9) She combined it with the position of Vicepresident, Minister of the Presidency and Spokesperson of the Government.
• (10) She combined it with the position of Vicepresident and Spokesperson of the Government.
• (11) He combined it with the position of Minister of Public Works (April 7, 2009 - December 21, 2011).
• (12) He combined it with the position of Minister of Education, Culture and Sport.
• (13) She combined it with the position of Minister of Education and Vocational training.
• (14) She combined it with the position of Minister of Finance.
• (15) She combined it with the position of Minister of Territorial Policy.
• (16) She combined it with the position of Minister of Education, Vocational training and Sports.

References