Ministry of Industry (Spain)

Ministry of Industry and Tourism
Ministerio de Industria y Turismo

The current headquarters in the Nuevos Ministerios complex.
Agency overview
Formed4 November 1928; 95 years ago (1928-11-04) (as Ministry of National Economy)
Preceding agency
TypeMinistry
JurisdictionGovernment of Spain
Headquarters160 Paseo de la Castellana
Madrid, Spain
Employees3,133 (2019)[1]
Annual budget€ 10.1 billion, 2023[2]
Minister responsible
Agency executives
Child agencies
WebsiteMinistry of Industry, Trade and Tourism(in Spanish)

The Ministry of Industry and Tourism (MINCOTUR) is the department of the Government of Spain responsible for the proposal and execution of the government policy on industry, trade and tourism, including among its competences the industrial development and of the SMEs, the promotion and defense of the industrial property, as well as the politics of tourism and the rest of competences and attributions that the legal system attributes to it. Likewise, in coordination with the Foreign Ministry is responsible for the international cooperation on this matters.[3]

The Industry Ministry, along with the Defence Ministry, has an important presence in the military industry. The MINCOTUR supervises the imports and exports of military materials through the Interministerial Regulatory Board on Foreign Trade of Defense Material and Dual Purpose (JIMDDU) of the Secretariat of State for Trade.[4] Likewise, the Ministry of Industry regularly grants loans to state-owned enterprises for the promotion of this industry and the realization of military projects.[5][6]

The MINCOTUR is headed by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, who is appointed by the Monarch at request of the Prime Minister, after hearing the Council of Ministers. The minister, currently Héctor Gómez Hernández, is assisted by four main officials, the Secretary of State for Tourism, the Secretary of State for Trade, the Secretary General for Industry and Small and Medium Enterprises and the Under Secretary of Industry, Trade and Tourism.

History

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Early period

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Government action in the field of Industry within the historical limits of Spanish constitutionalism, can be traced to the early 19th century. In 9 November 1832 the Ministry of Development was created and among other responsibilities, it had the domestic and foreign trade; industry, arts, crafts and manufactures.[7]

The linkage of the industry to the Development Ministry was maintained until 1922. Even during the period 1900–1905, the Department was named Agriculture, Industry, Trade and Public Works. On the other hand, in 1910 the Directorate-General for Trade, Industry and Labour was created. Between 1922 and 1928 the newly created the Ministry of Labour assumed the powers over Industry and Commerce.[8]

Late period

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José Franchy y Roca, first Minister of Industry in 1933.

The end of the Military Directorate in 1925, the restoration of the ministerial regime and the economic circumstances led to the creation of the Ministry of National Economy by Royal Decree-Law of 3 November 1928, in response to public opinion that this affairs required to be placed under one direction only, both in terms of production, trade and consumption; and that to date they were dispersed among the rest of the government departments. The National Economy Council depended on the new Economy Ministry, although slightly modified, continuing with its work of collecting and contrasting the realities of the country around each and every one of the sectors of his economic life.

The Ministry was also integrated by the following organisms:

  • The Ministry of Development transferred to it the Directorate-General for Agriculture, with the agricultural chambers, agronomic council and association of Cattle Ranchers and the services of Hygiene and Animal Health.
  • The Office of the Prime Minister transferred to it the National Economy Council and Directorate-General for Tariffs and Valuations, whose holder was the vice president of the council.
  • From the Ministries of Labor and Interior, it were transferred respectively the responsibilities on Commerce and Supply, which met in the same Directorate-General for Trade and Supply.
  • The Ministry of Labour also transferred to it the Directorate-General for Industry, with the School of Industrial Engineers, as well as provincial inspectorates.

During this period, its headquarters were in the same building as the Ministry of Development, with the exception of the National Economy Council, which was located on Magdalena Street, 12 in Madrid.

By Decree of 16 December 1931, the department was renamed as Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Trade.[9] The National Economy Council was transformed into the National Economy Planning Council.

In 1933, during the premiership of Manuel Azaña, the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Trade split in two and while the responsibilities on industry and commerce stayed in this department, agriculture affairs were transferred to the new Ministry of Agriculture.[10] This ministry was structured through three departments: the Directorate-General for Industry, the Directorate-General for Trade and the Directorate-General for Mines and Fuel.[10]

This structure was maintained until 1951 when because of the growth of the commercial activity, in which —according to the dictator— made inexcusable a greater attention of the States, especially in its two most important aspects, of supplies and foreign currency, reached such extension that completely absorbed the activity of one Ministry, given the dimensions and complexity of the problems in which the Administration was obliged to intervene; and the industrial development of Spain and the forced promotion of mining and production of energy and basic materials, contained in itself more than enough field to absorb all the activities of a single ministerial department, forced the government to split the Ministry of Industry and Trade in two.[11]

Since the approval of the Constitution in 1978, the Industry Ministry was renamed Ministry of Industry and Energy with responsibilities on the industrial and energy policies and, since 1988, for the first time, it assumed competences over technological development and innovation because of «the accession of Spain to the Treaty of Rome and the measures of application of the Single European Act » which required «an effort to increase the competitiveness of Spanish industry». Also, the Government considered necessary for "emphasize those elements that will determine the competitive position of industrial companies in the immediate future: the development and application of new technologies in the industry, and care for design and product quality industrial".[12]

Reyes Maroto, Industry Minister from 2018 to 2023.

In 2000 the Ministry was suppressed and its components were divided between the Ministry of Economy (mining and energy) and the Ministry of Science and Technology (industry and technology). This last Ministry, considered the direct successor, in words of its minister Anna Birulés in her speech before Congress in 21 June 2000 «the Department is responsible for the challenge but also the opportunity to make the decisive process of promoting the culture of innovation in our country a reality in the time horizon of this legislature». This was reverted in 2004 when the new government recovered the Ministry but not only with the industrial responsibilities but with its historical trade responsibilities and tourism and telecoms ones.[13]

In 2012, the ministry lost again its trade responsibilities that were assumed by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. Again in 2016, the ministry lost its autonomy after being merged in the Economy Ministry and the responsibilities on energy, telecoms and tourism got their own ministry.[14]

The new Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez recovered the Ministry in 2018[15] with competencies on industrial affairs, trade and tourism sector. However, the telecoms powers remained in the Ministry of Economy and, for the first time, the recovered Ministry of Environment (renamed for the Ecological Transition) assumed the powers on energy.[16]

On 20 November 2023, the commerce affairs were transferred to the Ministry of Economy.[17]

Organization chart

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The current structure of the Ministry is the following:[18]

  • The Secretariat of State for Industry
    • The Directorate-General for Industrial Strategy and Small and Medium Enterprises
    • The Directorate-General for Industrial Programs
    • The Special Commissioner for the Agri-Food Sector
    • The Special Commissioner for Industrial Decarbonization
  • The Secretariat of State for Tourism
    • The Directorate-General for Tourism Policies
  • The Undersecretariat of Industry, Trade and Tourism
    • The Technical General Secretariat
    • The Deputy Directorate-General for the Administrative Office and Financial Administration
    • The Deputy Directorate-General for Information and Communication Technologies
    • The Budget Office.
    • The Deputy Directorate-General for the General Inspectorate of Services and Relationship with Citizens
    • The Deputy Directorate-General for Planning

List of Industry Ministers

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Dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera (1928–1931)

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Second Republic (1931–1939)

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Franco (1936–1975)

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Reign of Juan Carlos I

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Reign of Felipe VI (2014-present)

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Beginning End Name Party
15 April 2016 7 March 2018
Luis de Guindos (14)(15) PP
7 March 2018 7 June 2018
Román Escolano (15)
7 June 2018 28 March 2023
Reyes Maroto (16) PSOE
28 March 2023 21 November 2023
Héctor Gómez (16)
21 November 2023 Incumbent
Jordi Hereu (17) PSC

Name

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  • (1) Industry, Tourism and Trade.
  • (2) Science and Technology.
  • (3) Industry and Energy.
  • (4) Trade and Tourism.
  • (5) Industry, Trade and Tourism.
  • (6) Trade and Tourism.
  • (7) Industry.
  • (8) Trade.
  • (9) Industry and Trade.
  • (10) Industry, Commerce and Supplies.
  • (11) Industry, Commerce and Agriculture.
  • (12) Agriculture, Trade and Industry.
  • (13) National Economy
  • (14) Industry, Energy and Tourism
  • (15) Economy, Industry and Competitiveness
  • (16) Industry, Trade and Tourism
  • (17) Industry and Tourism

See also

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Notes and references

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  1. ^ Ministry of Territorial Policy and Civil Service (2018). Statistical Bulletin of the personnel at the service of the Public Administrations (PDF). pp. 32 and 48. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  2. ^ "2023 State Budget" (PDF). www.boe.es. 1 January 2023. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  3. ^ "Royal Decree 998/2018, of August 3, by which the basic organic structure of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism is developed". boe.es. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  4. ^ "Ministerio de Industria, Comercio y Turismo – Conceptos". www.comercio.gob.es. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  5. ^ Infodefensa.com, Revista Defensa (30 November 2019). "El Gobierno aprueba un préstamo de 1.638 millones a Navantia para las F110 – Noticias Infodefensa España". Infodefensa.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  6. ^ "Industria presta a Hispasat 750 millones para dos satélites gubernamentales". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 10 April 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  7. ^ Barrero García, Ana María (2006). The administrative matter and its management in the reign of Fernando VII (PDF).
  8. ^ Ortúñez Goicolea, Pedro Pablo (2011). Reducción de competencias, mantenimiento del gasto (1914–1936) (PDF) (in Spanish). University of Valladolid.
  9. ^ "Decree renaming the Ministry of National Economy as Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Trade" (PDF).
  10. ^ a b "Decree providing that the current Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce is divided into two, which will be called Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Industry and Commerce, respectively" (PDF).
  11. ^ "Decree-Law of July 19, 1951 by which the Central Administration of the State is reorganized" (PDF).
  12. ^ "Royal Decree 1270/1988, of October 28, by which the basic organic structure of the Ministry of Industry and Energy is determined". www.boe.es. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  13. ^ "Royal Decree 562/2004, of April 19, approving the basic organizational structure of the ministerial departments". boe.es. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  14. ^ "Royal Decree 415/2016, of November 3, by which the ministerial departments are restructured". boe.es. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  15. ^ "Royal Decree 355/2018, of June 6, by which the ministerial departments are restructured". boe.es. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  16. ^ Barreira, Ana (3 July 2018). "Spain to lead the energy transition in Europe?". euractiv.com. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  17. ^ S.L, EDICIONES PLAZA. "Calviño asume Comercio y tratará de articular mejor la atracción de inversiones estratégicas". Valencia Plaza (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  18. ^ "Royal Decree 409/2024, of April 23, which develops the basic organic structure of the Ministry of Industry and Tourism". boe.es. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
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