Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Spain)

The secretary of state for foreign and global affairs is a senior minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of the Government of Spain. Although he or she has the same rank as the other secretaries of state of the Department, the SEAEX is considered the second-in-command to the minister.
The secretary of state for foreign affairs is responsible for assisting the minister in the planning of the foreign policy guidelines and its subsequent implementation. It is also responsible for the foreign policy regarding Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia —including the Middle East— and Oceanic countries.
Finally, it also coordinates the foreign policy with respect to international organizations —primarily the United Nations and others related to international security— except for those that fall under the jurisdiction of other secretaries of state. This also includes issues like terrorism, security, and peacekeeping operations, non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament and human rights.

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History

The Secretariat of State for Foreign Affairs was created in 1979 as a body of «general competence» destinated to help the Foreign Minister in his duties. This body was suppressed in 1982 and its competences were re-assumed by the Minister.
In 1985, the department was reactivated with the level of General Secretariat and was called General Secretariat for Foreign Policy and the Secretary General had the rank of Under Secretary. In 1996, with the change of government, the General Secretariat was subordinated to a new Secretariat of State called Secretariat of State for Foreign Policy and for the European Union, assuming the coordinations competences of the General Secretariat and the competences of the Secretariat of State for the European Union. This was reverted again in 2000 when the secretariat of state was split in two.
In 2004, the new government gave the competencies over Ibero-America to this Secretariat of State that before belonged to the Secretariat of State for International Cooperation but in 2008 this competences were assumed by a new Secretariat of State for Ibero-America and were re-assumed again in the very late 2010 under the name of Secretariat of State for Foreign and Ibero-American Affairs.
With the Rajoy government, the Secretariat of State established its current structure, with the exception of everything regarding Ibero-America and the Caribbean, which was established in 2020.

Names

Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.Competences assumed by the Minister between 1982 and 1985.
General Secretariat for Foreign Policy.
Secretary of State for Foreign Policy and for the European Union.
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Ibero-America.
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Secretary of State for Foreign and Ibero-American Affairs..
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and for Ibero-America and the Caribbean
Secretary of State for Foreign and Global Affairs

Structure

The Secretariat of State is composed of six departments, all of them run by a director-general:

The Directorate-General for Foreign Policy and Security.
: Descried as the "Policy Director", it assits the secretary of state in the coordination of the other directorates-general and implements the secretary of state's instructions. It also coordinates Spanish participation at the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and in other international organizations focused on international security, terrorism, non-proliferation and disarmament.
The Directorate-General for the United Nations, International Organizations and Human Rights.
: It's responsible for coordinating Spanish policy regarding the United Nations and all its bodies, as well as those focused on human rights, democracy and rule of law, environment and climate change. It also assits and promotes the participation of Spanish nationals as international civil servants in this organizations.
The Directorate-General for the Maghreb, the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
: It's the department in charge of designing and implementing Spain's foreign policy regarding the Maghreb, the south Mediterranean countries and the Middle East, the promotion of bilateral relations with the countries it encompasses and the follow-up of the initiatives and multilateral forums of the geographic area of its competence.
The Directorate-General for Africa.
: It's the department in charge of the rest of the African continent, specifically Sub-Saharan Africa, promoting bilateral relations with the countries it encompasses and the follow-up of the initiatives and multilateral forums of the geographic area of its competence.
The Directorate-General for North America, Eastern Europe, Asia and Pacific.
: It's the department in charge of the proposal and execution of the foreign policy of Spain in its corresponding geographical area, the promotion of bilateral relations with the countries it encompasses, the follow-up of the initiatives and multilateral forums of the geographic area of its competence and the impulse to the Foundations Council Spain-United States, Spain-China, Spain-Japan, Spain-India and Spain-Australia.