The Ministry of Defence is headed by the Minister of Defence, a Cabinet member who depends directly from the Prime Minister. Beneath the Ministry of Defence are five subordinate principal departments: the Armed Forces, headed by the Chief of the Defence Staff (JEMAD), which is divided in three military branches led by the Chief of Staff of the Army (JEME), the Chief of Staff of the Navy (AJEMA) and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force (JEMA); the Secretariat of State for Defence (headed by the Secretary of State, SEDEF); the Undersecretariat of Defence headed by the Ministry's Under-Secretary (SUBDEF) and the General Secretariat for Defence Policy head by the Secretary-General (SEGENPOL). In addition, the National Intelligence Centre (CNI) is subordinated to the Ministry of Defence.
Since the first origins of Spain, the monarchy has been the main form of government. That is the main reason why the first government departments appeared in the 18th century because for centuries, the monarch controlled all the power.
At the beginning, the King controlled the military through its Council of State which was divided in different sections dedicated to advise the King in the different areas of government.
Single and double secretariat
On July 11, 1705, King Philip V created a Secretariat for war and treasury matters, called Secretariat of the Dispatch of War and Treasury mainly because of the War of Succession.[4] Once the war was over, in 1714 the Administration was reformed and two secretariats appeared: one dedicated to the Army called Secretariat of the Dispatch of War and another to the Navy called the Secretariat of the Dispatch of the Navy and Indies.
The Secretariat of the Dispatch of the Navy and Indies was suppressed in 1715 and the competences over the Navy were transferred to the Secretariat of War. In 1721 the Secretariat of the Dispatch of the Navy was re-created assuming the competences on the naval forces but on 30 January 1776, the Secretariat of the Dispatch of the Indies was recovered assuming the control of the overseas's naval forces. Since then, the Secretariat of the Navy had competences only on the naval forces of the Peninsular Spain, the Canaries and the Balearics because the Secretariat of the Dispatch of the Indies assumed the responsibilities on the naval forces in the rest of the Empire. It wasn't until 1790 that this Secretariat also assumed the competences on the Overseas Navy when the Indies Secretariat was suppressed.[5] The same did the Secretariat of War with the competencies on the land forces in the Indies.
Ministries
This organization was maintained through decades and at the beginning of the 19th century, the terms Secretariat and Ministry were used as synonymous, until 1851 when the Ministry of War and Ministry of the Navy were officially renamed.
Since the Constitution of 1812, which creates the Secretary of State and of the Dispatch of the Overseas Government, until the creation of the Ministry of Overseas in 1863, there were constant hesitations in the allocation of powers over those domains and which advisory body to go in case of doubt in the resolution of the issues. In 1836 it is the Ministry of the Navy who assumes these functions; A few years later, they move to the Ministry of the Interior. In 1851 an Overseas Council and an Overseas Directorate were created under the Office of the Prime Minister.[6]
The hesitations continue regarding the advisory body (the Overseas Council alternates with the Royal Council and the Advisory Board) the vacillations also occur in terms of the dependence of the Directorate that passes to the Ministry of State in 1854, it is added to the Development in 1856, to return to State a few months later and depends on the Ministry of War from 1858 until the creation of the Overseas Ministry by Royal Decree of 20 May 1863. It subsists until the loss of those imperial provinces and is definitively suppressed by Royal Decree of 15 April 1899.[6]
First attempt and final unification
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Air Force started to make its firsts steps and at the very start they were just the air branch of the Army and later it was also created a Naval Air Force subordinated to the Navy.
During the Civil War, the armed forces split into two sides: the republican and the nationalist. In the republican side, there were two main ministries: the Ministry of War and the Ministry of the Navy and Aire Force; in the national side, there were only one unified ministry, the Ministry of National Defence that had all the competences over the three branches. After the Civil War, the Francoist regime divided again the former Ministry of National Defence intro three ministries: Ministry of the Army, Ministry of the Navy and the new Ministry of the Air Force (created in 1939).
This three military departments disappeared in 1977 when they merged into the current Ministry of Defence. This new Ministry of Defence established its headquarters in a building belonged to the Ministry of Culture and the three headquarters of the military ministries were destined to hold the main headquarters of each military branch. The position of Under Secretary of Defence was created in 1977.[7] The new military organization was established in 1984 with the JEMAD as the Chief Operative of the Armed Forces and the Prime Minister (through the Defence Minister) as de facto leader of the Armed Forces. The Monarch remained as the symbolic commander-in-chief and the position of Secretary of State for Defence was created too.[8]
In 2018, the National Intelligence Centre returned to the department's structure,[9] and Paz Esteban López was appointed its first female director in 2020.[10] On 2023, the administrative rank of the Center of Systems and Technologies of the Information and Communications was raised to directorate-general and, in September 2024, a new Directorate-General for Strategy and Innovation of the Defence Industry was created from some of the responsibilities of the Directorate-General for Armament and Materiel.[11]
Structure
As of 2025[update], this is the organization of the Ministry:[2]
The chain of command of the military is regulated in the 2005 National Defence Organic Act.[12]
Like the Constitution, this organic law recognizes the Monarch as the supreme commander of the Armed Forces, with the rank of captain general. The Government is the body in charge of establishing the defence policy as well as control of the military administration. The Prime Minister is the civilian authority in command of the Armed Forces. The Minister of Defence, under the authority of the prime minister, control the Armed Forces and establish the military policy. The Chief of the Defence Staff (Spanish: Jefe del Estado Mayor de la Defensa, JEMAD) is the fourth military authority, in charge over the operative command of the Armed Forces. After the JEMAD are the chiefs of staff of the armies, who manage their respective branch and keep it organized and prepared.
The Parliament is the responsible for authorising the signing of military treaties, approving the defence laws and military budgets and authorize the Sovereign to declare war or to make peace. In particular, the Congress of Deputies is responsible for authorising the use of the Armed Forces abroad in missions that are not of national interest; if they are of national interest, the Government can use them without authorization but informing Congress.
The deputy chiefs of staff of the Army, the Navy and the Air and Space Force
Although they are important positions within the Military Administration, neither the Secretary of State for Defense, the Under-Secretary nor the Secretary-General for Defense Policy has military authority.
Headquarters
Buenavista Palace, headquarters of the Ministry of War since 1847 and of the Ministry of Defence from 1977 to 1981.
The first military departments —War and Navy— were headquartered at the royal residence, first in the Royal Alcázar from 1714 to 1734, briefly in the Royal Palace of Buen Retiro since 1734 and in the Royal Palace when its construction was finished. In 1826, due to the lack of space in the Royal Palace, they relocated to the Palace of Marqués de Grimaldi. However, a fire in 1846 forced all government departments to be relocated and only the Ministry of the Navy stayed in that Palace. The Ministry of War installed in the Buenavista Palace in 1847, a building that previously housed some military facilities.
In 1915, given the poor state of the Grimaldi Palace, a new headquarters for the Ministry of the Navy was built. With the creation of the Ministry of the Air in 1939, the same thing happened and by the 1950s the new Ministry already occupied its own palace in Moncloa Square.
Already during the democratic transition, in 1977 the new Ministry of Defence was created, being headquartered in the Palacio de Buenavista until 1981. That year, all central services were moved out to a large building located at number 109 Paseo de la Castellana (belonging to the Ministry of Culture and that previously had been the headquarters of the Ministry of Information and Tourism) in which it still remains today. As for the other three palaces, they continued to belong to the department but became the general headquarters of the Army branches.
Operating Expenses of the Armed Forces 2,306 (16.4%)
Training & reserve personnel 1,074 (7.64%)
Logistic support 1,028 (7.31%)
Health & Social Security 1,016 (7.23%)
Intelligence services 334 (2.38%)
Research & studies 232 (1.65%)
Other expenditures 171 (1.22%)
For fiscal year 2025, the Ministry of Defence has a consolidated buget of €14.06 billion. From this, 12.43 billion are managed by the department's central services and 1,63 billion by its agencies.[1]
Of the sixteen programs that Section 14 (Ministry of Defense) has in the budget, three stand out, exceeding 2 billion each: Program 121M "Administration and General Defense Services", Program 122B "Special modernization programs" and Program 122M "Operating Expenses of the Armed Forces".[1]
Historically, the Ministry's final budget increases considerably due to the increase in budget appropriations throughout the year,[13] a practice widely criticized by both Parliament and the Court of Auditors.[14] The Government also uses the Ministry of Industry's budget to finance some defence programs.[15]
Likewise, the Congress of Deputies and Senate Defence Committees exercise political control over the accounts, and the Congress of Deputies Official Secrets Committee supervises the National Intelligence Centre (CNI) activities and expenditure.
Employees
According to the Military Statistical Yearbook of 2024, at the end of 2024 the Military Administration (Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces) was made up of 162,562 employees.[16] Of these, 147,134 were military personnel and 14,793 were civilians.
↑These may include: Special services, voluntary leave of absence, suspension of employment, suspension of duties and service in civil administration.
↑This includes both career military personnel who are transferred to reserve status after reaching the legal limits, as well as voluntary and special availability reservists.
↑Medical and non-medical personnel providing services in the field of military health care.
↑Delle Femmine, Laura (2024-08-27). "El gasto real en Defensa sube más de un 20% sobre lo previsto en los dos últimos años"[Actual defense spending has risen by more than 20% over the last two years.]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 October 2025. The defense spending projected each year in the General State Budget falls short. Over the past two years, this item has required an additional injection to finance existing commitments and those added over the past few years. The gap between the forecast and actual expenditure has exceeded 20% since 2022.
↑Pina, María (14 October 2025). "El Gobierno aprueba tres paquetes de financiación para llegar al 2% del gasto en Defensa en pleno señalamiento de Trump". El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 October 2025. The Executive, through the Ministry of Industry, had already approved the pre-financing of 13 of these programs, granting €7.334 billion in loans at 0% interest for the pre-financing of 13 projects for the country's military modernization. These programs will be executed by Indra, Hisdesat, Navantia, and Airbus, according to Europa Press.
↑Technical General Secretariat (Ministry of Defence) (31 December 2024). "Military Statistical Yearbook". www.publicaciones.defensa.gob.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 October 2025.
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