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Organization of the General State Administration

How the General State Administration (AGE) is organized

The General Administration of the State comprises:

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

Central Organization of the General State Administration

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

There may also be higher or executive bodies or non-integrated or dependent public bodies, respectively, in the general structure of the Ministry which, on an exceptional basis, are directly attached to the Minister.

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).

Currently there are 22 ministries: you can access theirStructures and Organigrams.

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.

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

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.

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 shall have their seat 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)

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

In the Autonomous Communities uniprovincial, Government Subdelegations can be created when circumstances such as the population of the territory, the volume of management or its geographical, social or economic peculiarities justify it.

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

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)

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.

Normative references