The Government and Administration

The Government is a political body. They highlight: Its members, functions and relations with the other powers and institutions of the state.

Its members are the President of the Government and the vice-presidents, if any, and the ministers. The President directs it. They meet in the Council of Ministers and Commissions. Everyone assumes the decisions taken in a collegiate manner.

What do you do?” : It directs international, national policy and administration; proposes draft laws and budgets to the Cortes Generales; approves regulations. In short, it develops, promotes public policies and implements the laws approved by the Cortes Generales.

The relations of the executive power and the other institutions are key to understanding its legitimacy, how it develops its functions and how it is supervised. This ensures balances and prevents abuses.

The Head of State, the King, appoints the president or president of the Government once he has received the support and confidence of the members of the Congress of Deputies elected in the elections. The President of the Government proposes the appointment or dismissal of the persons in charge of the Ministries and Vice-Presidencies to the King, who appoints them.

The General Courts (Congress of Deputies and Senate) as representatives of the citizens have a particularly relevant role in their relationship with the Government:

• In order to better fulfil its functions, the Government must count on the support of the Cortes Generales, since only the latter can adopt the laws that it has proposed to them.
• If the confidence of Congress in the government disappears, a new president or president of the government is appointed or new elections are called. This relationship of trust is reflected especially in the investiture, the motion of censure and the question of trust, instruments exercised exclusively by the Congress.
• The Cortes Generales approve the General Budgets of the State, that is, the expenses of the administration and the expected income.
• The Courts supervise and control the actions of the Government, for example, through specific sessions devoted to the control of the Government, parliamentary questions and commissions of inquiry.

The Ombudsman and the Court of Auditors monitor the work of the Government and administrations and report back to the General Courts. The Ombudsman acts in defence of citizens' rights by supervising the proper functioning of administrations, while the Court of Auditors focuses on economic management.

The Judiciary, through the different courts and tribunals, controls the legality of the actions of public administrations.

The Constitutional Court guarantees respect for the Constitution and fundamental rights by public administrations.

The Public Administration objectively serves the general interests and acts in accordance with the principles of efficiency, hierarchy, decentralization, deconcentration and coordination, with full compliance with the law and the law.

They have the consideration of Public Administrations:

• the General State Administration,
• the Administrations of the Autonomous Communities,
• the Entities that make up the Local Administration,
• public bodies and bodies governed by public law

General State Administration

The General State Administration is a public organization. It is the government’s instrument for developing and implementing its public policies and providing services. It is managed by the Government, acting in accordance with the principles of legality, neutrality, effectiveness and efficiency. It is at the service of the government on duty regardless of its political colour. It carries out its functions throughout the national territory and abroad.

The executive branch consists of the Government and the General Administration of the State.

The Government of Spain directs international, national and General State Administration policy.

This section presents the General Administration of the State, What is it? What do you do?” What media do you use? How is it organized?

What is it?

The General State Administration is a public organization. It is the government’s instrument to develop and implement its public policies or provide services.

The Government heads the General Administration of the State. It acts inspired by the following principles: legality, neutrality, effectiveness, efficiency, quality.

It is at the service of the elected government at all times, regardless of its political colour.

What do you do?”

In a generic way, the following can be noted as the main functions of the AGE:

• Public Policy Development: AGE acts as the Government ' s instrument for carrying out its policies, ensuring that they are implemented effectively and efficiently.
• Provision of Public Services: Is responsible for providing a variety of services to citizens, including social security, employment, health, and resource management such as water and transportation.
• Coordination with Other Administrations: AGE works in coordination with the Autonomous Communities and other public administrations to ensure coherent and efficient management of resources and services.
• Human and Economic Resource Management: The AGE employs hundreds of thousands of civil servants and manages the State budget, ensuring that resources are used appropriately.
• International Relations: It also deals with the State ' s relations with other countries and international organizations, representing Spain ' s interests abroad.

For a full account of the functions of the General Administration of the State, please refer to the tables below, which follow the recommendations made by the Higher Qualifying Commission for Administrative Documents, which is the highest advisory body devoted to the study and assessment of the qualification and use of documents of the General Administration of the State (AGE) and its public bodies.

This committee draws up two function classification tables: one with common functions and the other with specific functions. [Classification table of common functions of the AGE and Classification table of specific functions of the AGE]

How is it organized?

The General Administration of the State comprises:

• La Central Organization, which integrates ministries and common services.
• La Territorial Organization.
• The General State Administration in the exterior.

Central Organization of the General State Administration

Ministries

The General Administration of the State is organized in Presidency of the Government and on Ministries, to which one or more functionally homogeneous sectors of administrative activity correspond.

There may also be higher or executive bodies or public bodies that are not integrated or dependent, respectively, in the general structure of the Ministry, which, on an exceptional basis, are directly ascribe to the head of the ministry.

The determination of the number, denomination and respective scope of competence of the Ministries and the Secretariats of State are established by Royal Decree of the President of the Government, which is published in the Official State Gazette (BOE).

At present there are 22 ministries: you can access your Structures and Organigrams.

Secretariats of State and General Secretariats

In the Ministries there may be Secretariats of State and General Secretariats for the management of a sector of administrative activity. The governing bodies assigned to them will depend hierarchically on them.

Technical Undersecretariats and General Secretariats

The Ministries will, in any case, have a Sub-Secretariat and, depending on it, a General Technical Secretariat for the management of common services.

Directorates-General and Deputy Directorates-General

The Directorates-General are the management bodies of one or more functionally homogeneous areas.

The Directorates-General are organised into Sub-Directorates-General for the distribution of the competences entrusted to them, the implementation of their own activities and the allocation of objectives and responsibilities. In addition, Assistant Directorates-General may be directly attached to other higher level management bodies or to higher bodies of the Ministry.

Territorial Organization of the AGE

In the territorial organization of the General Administration of the State, the governing bodies are both the Delegates or Delegates of the Government in the Autonomous Communities, who will have the rank of Undersecretary or Undersecretary, and the Subdelegates or Subdelegates of the Government in the provinces, who will have the level of Deputy Director or Assistant Director General.

Government delegations

There is a Government Delegation in each of the Autonomous Communities.

They exercise the direction and supervision of all the services of the General Administration of the State and its public agencies located in its territory (integrated and non-integrated services).

They represent the Government in the territory of the Autonomous Community.

The Government Delegations will have their headquarters in the locality where the Governing Council of the Autonomous Community is located, unless the Council of Ministers agrees to locate it in a different one and without prejudice to the express provisions of the Statute of Autonomy.

• Organigram (Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory)
• Map (Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory)

Government Subdelegations and Island Directorates

There is a Subdelegate or Subdelegate of the Government in each of the provinces of the multi-provincial Autonomous Communities.

In the Autonomous Communities uniprovincialGovernment sub-delegations may be created when circumstances such as the population of the territory, the volume of management or its geographical, social or economic peculiarities so warrant.

In the islands of Menorca, Ibiza-Formentera, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, La Palma, El Hierro and La Gomera, there is Island Director or Director of the General State Administration.

The Directors or the Island Directors will depend hierarchically on the Delegate or Delegate of the Government in the Autonomous Community or the Subdelegate or Subdelegate of the Government in the province when this position exists.

Map (Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory)

General Administration of the State abroad

In the General Administration of the State abroad, ambassadors and permanent representatives to international organizations are the governing bodies.

The State Foreign Service is governed in all matters relating to its composition, organization, functions, integration and personnel by the provisions of the Constitution. Law 2/2014, of March 25, of the Action and the Foreign Service of the State and in its development regulations and, alternately, by the provisions of Law 40/2015 of 1 October, on the Legal Regime of the Public Sector.

Embassies and Consulates (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation)

More information about the State Foreign Service.