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 emerging as the largest parliamentary force at the 1979 Spanish general election. It succeeded the [Second Executive (government)|government of Adolfo Suárez|second Suárez government] and was the government of Spain from 6 April 1979 to 27 February 1981, a total of days, or.
Suárez's third cabinet was the first to be appointed under the Spanish Constitution of 1978, and was an all-UCD government plus two military officers ; 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.
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 on the issue of the Andalusian autonomy and his party's stance on the 28 February 1980 autonomy initiative referendum. He was replaced in the post by Ricardo de la Cierva, who was sworn into office on the following day. 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.
- 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, Carlos Bustelo and Juan Antonio García Díez 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 and Juan Antonio Ortega y Díaz-Ambrona. Salvador Sánchez-Terán was moved from Transport and Communications—which was assigned to José Luis Álvarez—to Labour and the post of deputy minister held by Joaquín Garrigues Walker was abolished.
- 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 [Ministry of Ministry of Justice (Spain)|Justice (Spain)|Justice]—assigned to Francisco Fernández Ordóñez—to Culture. Further changes were seen in Education, Labour and Calvo-Sotelo's vacant ministry, Relations with the European Communities. The reshuffle also saw the recovery of some members from former cabinets, such as Alberto Oliart, Juan Antonio García Díez, Rodolfo Martín Villa and Pío Cabanillas Gallas. Meanwhile, the deputy ministry for Legislative Coordination was abolished.
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. This number would be maintained in the May 1980 reshuffle with some changes within the deputy ministries, one of which would be abolished in the September 1980 reshuffle.Changes January 1980
! Portfolio! Name
! colspan="2"| Party
! Took office
! Left office
!
Changes May 1980
! Portfolio! Name
! colspan="2"| Party
! Took office
! Left office
!
Changes September 1980
! Portfolio! Name
! colspan="2"| Party
! Took office
! Left office
!
Changes October 1980
! Portfolio! Name
! colspan="2"| Party
! Took office
! Left office
!
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.;Unit/body rank
Prime Minister's Office">Palace of Moncloa">Prime Minister's Office
! colspan="9"|Ministry of Foreign Affairs">Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Spain)">Ministry of Foreign Affairs
! colspan="9"|Ministry of Justice">Ministry of Justice (Spain)">Ministry of Justice
! colspan="9"|Ministry of Defence">Ministry of Defence (Spain)">Ministry of Defence
! colspan="9"|Ministry of Finance">Ministry of Finance (Spain)">Ministry of Finance
! colspan="9"|Interior (Spain)|Ministry of the Interior]]
! colspan="9"|[Ministry of Public Works and Urbanism]
! colspan="9"|Education (Spain)|Ministry of Education]]
! colspan="9"|Ministry of Labour">Ministry of Labour (Spain)">Ministry of Labour
! colspan="9"|Ministry of Industry and Energy">Ministry of Industry (Spain)">Ministry of Industry and Energy
! colspan="9"|Ministry of Agriculture">Ministry of Agriculture (Spain)">Ministry of Agriculture
! colspan="9"|Ministry of Trade and Tourism">Ministry of Trade (Spain)">Ministry of Trade and Tourism
! colspan="9"|[Ministry of the Presidency]
! colspan="9"|Ministry of Economy">Ministry of Economy (Spain)">Ministry of Economy
----Ministry of Economy;
Ministry of Trade
----
Ministry of Economy and Trade
! colspan="9"|
Ministry of Transport and Communications">Ministry of Transport (Spain)">Ministry of Transport and Communications
! colspan="9"|Ministry of Health and Social Security">Ministry of Health (Spain)">Ministry of Health and Social Security
! colspan="9"|Ministry of Culture">Ministry of Culture (Spain)">Ministry of Culture
! colspan="9"|Ministry of Territorial Administration">Ministry for Territorial Administrations">Ministry of Territorial Administration
! colspan="9"|Ministry of Universities and Research">Ministry of Science (Spain)">Ministry of Universities and Research
! colspan="9"|[Ministers without portfolio]
----Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister,
without portfolio