First government of Adolfo Suárez

{{Infobox government cabinet

| cabinet_name = 1st government of Adolfo Suárez

| cabinet_number =

| cabinet_type = Government

| jurisdiction = Spain

| flag = Flag of Spain (1945–1977).svg

| flag_border = true

| incumbent = 1976–1977

| image = Adolfo Suárez 1977c (cropped).jpg

| image_size = 175px

| caption = Adolfo Suárez in August 1977.

| date_formed = 8 July 1976

| date_dissolved = 5 July 1977

| government_head = Adolfo Suárez

| government_head_title = Prime Minister

| deputy_government_head = Fernando de Santiago^1st, Alfonso Osorio^2nd (1976)
Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado^1st, Alfonso Osorio^2nd (1976–1977)

| deputy_government_head_title = Deputy Prime Ministers

| state_head = Juan Carlos I

| members_number = 19{{efn|name="PM"|Does not include the Prime Minister.}}

| total_number = 22{{efn|name="PM"}}

| political_party = {{color test|{{party color|Movimiento Nacional}}|size=1}} National Movement (Legal associations, military, nonpartisans) (1976–1977)
{{color test|{{party color|Union of the Democratic Centre (Spain)}}|size=1}} UCD (1977)

| legislature_status = One-party state

| opposition_party =

| opposition_leader =

| election =

| last_election =

| legislature_term = 10th Cortes Españolas

| budget = 1977

| incoming_formation =

| outgoing_formation =

| previous = Arias Navarro II

| successor = Suárez II

}}

The first government of Adolfo Suárez was formed on 8 July 1976, following the latter's appointment as Prime Minister of Spain by King Juan Carlos I on 3 July and his swearing-in on 5 July, as a result of Carlos Arias Navarro's resignation from the post on 1 July 1976.{{cite news|date=4 July 1976|title=Adolfo Suárez, nuevo presidente del Gobierno|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1976/07/04/portada/205279203_850215.html|language=es|newspaper=El País|access-date=6 January 2020}}{{cite news|date=4 July 1976|title=Puede ser presidente durante cinco años|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1976/07/04/espana/205279213_850215.html|language=es|newspaper=El País|access-date=6 January 2020}}{{cite news|date=6 July 1976|title=El presidente jura su cargo ante el Rey|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1976/07/06/espana/205452018_850215.html|language=es|newspaper=El País|access-date=6 January 2020}} It succeeded the second Arias Navarro government and was the Government of Spain from 8 July 1976 to 5 July 1977, a total of {{age in days|8 Jul 1976|5 Jul 1977}} days, or {{age in years, months and days|1976|7|8|1977|7|5}}.{{cite news|date=7 July 1976|title=Hoy podrá Adolfo Suárez formar Gobierno|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1976/07/07/portada/205538405_850215.amp.html|language=es|newspaper=El País|access-date=6 January 2020}}{{cite news|date=30 January 1981|title=Los Gobiernos de Suárez|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1981/01/30/espana/349657207_850215.html|language=es|newspaper=El País|access-date=5 January 2020}}

Suárez's first cabinet comprised members from the National Movement (with the notable absences of FET y de las JONS and the Opus Dei),{{cite news|last=González Yuste|first=Juan|date=9 July 1976|title=Un Gabinete que se aleja del antiguo régimen|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1976/07/09/espana/205711217_850215.html|language=es|newspaper=El País|location=Washington|access-date=23 August 2020}} but also by members of the reformist 'Tácito' group,{{cite news|date=31 August 1976|title=Cinco ministros apoyan la creación de un nuevo partido demócrata-cristiano|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1976/08/31/espana/210290402_850215.html|language=es|newspaper=El País|access-date=6 January 2020}}{{cite news|date=3 March 2002|title=Los "tácitos", un producto de la transición|url=https://www.abc.es/espana/abci-tacitos-producto-transicion-200203030300-82101_noticia.html|language=es|newspaper=ABC|access-date=23 August 2020}} a number of political associations that could not yet be legalized as parties—such as the Spanish People's Union (UDPE) and the Spanish Democratic Union (UDE)—and the Federation of Independent Studies (FEDISA) political society.{{cite news|date=8 July 1976|title=Filiación política del nuevo gobierno|url=http://hemeroteca.lavanguardia.com/preview/1976/07/08/pagina-5/33785404/pdf.html|language=es|newspaper=La Vanguardia|access-date=23 August 2020}}{{cite news|date=8 July 1976|title=Nuevo Gobierno: los propagadistas, al poder|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1976/07/08/portada/205624805_850215.amp.html|language=es|newspaper=El País|access-date=6 January 2020}}{{cite news|last=De la Cuadra|first=Bonifacio|date=11 July 1976|title=El Gobierno Suárez, ante la primera prueba sobre su credibilidad democrática|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1976/07/11/espana/205884001_850215.html|language=es|newspaper=El País|access-date=6 January 2020}} Following the death of dictator Francisco Franco, the regulations of the Cortes Españolas had been amended to allow legislators to group into parliamentary factions, one of whom—the Independent Parliamentary Group (GPI), which would later become the Independent Social Federation (FSI) party—being represented in the Council of Ministers through Rodolfo Martín Villa.{{cite journal|last=Giménez Martínez|first=Miguel Ángel|year=2018|title=Los reformistas del franquismo en las Cortes: el Grupo Parlamentario Independiente|url=https://recyt.fecyt.es/index.php/RevEsPol/article/view/63992|language=es|journal=Revista de Estudios Políticos|issue=179|issn=0048-7694|pages=199–230|doi=10.18042/cepc/rep.179.07|access-date=23 August 2020|doi-access=free|hdl=10486/685279|hdl-access=free}}

On 7 April 1977, the National Movement and the FET y de las JONS party were officially disbanded,{{cite journal|publisher=Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado|journal=Boletín Oficial del Estado|issue=83|date=7 April 1977|language=es|title=Real Decreto-ley 23/1977, de 1 de abril, sobre reestructuración de los órganos dependientes del Consejo Nacional y nuevo régimen jurídico de las Asociaciones, funcionarios y patrimonio del Movimiento|url=https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/1977/04/07/pdfs/A07768-07770.pdf|issn=0212-033X|pages=7768–7770}}{{cite news|date=10 April 1977|title=El yugo y las flechas de Alcalá 44, desmontados|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1977/04/10/espana/229471214_850215.html|language=es|newspaper=El País|access-date=6 January 2020}} and many cabinet members—who had gone their own separate ways to a number of political parties ahead of the 1977 general election—joined into the nascent Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) electoral alliance under Suárez's leadership upon its formation in May 1977.{{cite news|date=4 May 1977|title=El presidente del Gobierno candidato por la Unión del Centro|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1977/05/04/espana/231544834_850215.html|language=es|newspaper=El País|access-date=6 January 2020}}{{cite news|last=Merino|first=Julio|date=20 April 2020|title=La historia de UCD a través de Landelino Lavilla, uno de los hombres clave de la Transición|url=https://elcierredigital.com/investigacion/603782179/historia-UCD-transicion-landelino-lavilla.html|language=es|newspaper=El Cierre Digital|access-date=23 August 2020}}{{cite web|title=3. Partidos políticos que integraron "Unión de Centro Democrático"|url=https://www.mpr.gob.es/servicios2/publicaciones/vol35/pag_13.html|language=es|website=Ministry of the Interior|access-date=23 August 2020}}

Cabinet changes

Suárez's first government saw a number of cabinet changes during its tenure:

On 23 September 1976, Fernando de Santiago was replaced as First Deputy Prime Minister by Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado.{{cite news|date=23 September 1976|title=Un militar liberal, como segundo del presidente|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1976/09/23/portada/212277601_850215.amp.html|language=es|newspaper=El País|access-date=6 January 2020}}{{cite news|date=24 September 1976|title=Gutiérrez Mellado juró su cargo ante el Rey|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1976/09/24/espana/212364005_850215.html|language=es|newspaper=El País|access-date=6 January 2020}}
Minister of the Navy Gabriel Pita da Veiga announced his resignation on 12 April 1977 over personal disagreements with the government's decision to legalize the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) on 9 April;{{cite news|date=13 April 1977|title=Pita da Veiga no estaba conforme con la legalización del Partido Comunista|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1977/04/13/espana/229730432_850215.html|language=es|newspaper=El País|access-date=6 January 2020}}{{cite news|date=13 April 1977|title=El ministro actual que más tiempo ha pemanecido en el cargo|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1977/04/13/espana/229730433_850215.html|language=es|newspaper=El País|access-date=6 January 2020}} he was replaced by Admiral Pascual Pery on 15 April.{{cite news|date=15 April 1977|title=Nadie anticipó el nombre del almirante Pascual Pery como nuevo ministro de Marina|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1977/04/15/ultima/229903201_850215.html|language=es|newspaper=El País|access-date=6 January 2020}}{{cite news|date=17 April 1977|title=Posible reajuste del Gabinete Suárez|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1977/04/17/portada/230076001_850215.amp.html|language=es|newspaper=El País|access-date=6 January 2020}}
On 23 April 1977, Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo resigned as Minister of Public Works in order to organize the newly-formed Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) ahead of the 1977 Spanish general election.{{cite news|date=24 April 1977|title=Dimite el ministro de Obras Públicas|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1977/04/24/portada/230680801_850215.amp.html|language=es|newspaper=El País|access-date=6 January 2020}} Carlos Pérez de Bricio took on the ordinary duties of the affairs of the ministry until Calvo-Sotelo's successor, Luis Ortiz González, could take office on 11 May 1977.{{cite news|date=30 April 1977|title=Luis Ortiz, posible ministro de Obras Públicas|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1977/04/30/espana/231199201_850215.html|language=es|newspaper=El País|access-date=6 January 2020}}{{cite news|date=10 May 1977|title=Luiz Ortiz, nuevo ministro de Obras Públicas|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1977/05/10/espana/232063211_850215.html|language=es|newspaper=El País|access-date=6 January 2020}}{{cite news|date=12 May 1977|title=El ministro de Obras Públicas juró su cargo en la Zarzuela|url=https://elpais.com/diario/1977/05/12/espana/232236003_850215.html|language=es|newspaper=El País|access-date=6 January 2020}}

Council of Ministers

The Council of Ministers was structured into the offices for the prime minister, the two deputy prime ministers and 19 ministries, including one minister without portfolio.

{| class="wikitable"

| colspan="7" bgcolor="#F2F2F2" align="center"| ← Suárez I Government →
(8 July 1976 – 5 July 1977)

! Portfolio

! Name

! width="100px" colspan="2"| Faction

! width="135px"| Took office

! width="135px"| Left office

! {{abbr|Ref.|Reference}}

| Prime Minister

| Adolfo Suárez

| width="1" style="background-color:{{party color|Independent politician}};"|

| UDPE/Indep.{{efn|name="AP"|Remained in the cabinet as an unaligned independent after UDPE merged into AP in October 1976.}}

| 5 July 1976

| 17 June 1977

| align="center"| {{cite journal|publisher=Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado|journal=Boletín Oficial del Estado|issue=160|date=5 July 1976|language=es|title=Real Decreto 1561/1976, de 3 de julio, por el que se designa Presidente del Gobierno a don Adolfo Suárez González|url=https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/1976/07/05/pdfs/A13129-13129.pdf|issn=0212-033X|page=13129}}

! colspan="7"|

| First Deputy Prime Minister
Minister without portfolio

| Fernando de Santiago

| style="background-color:{{party color|Military}};"|

| Military

| 8 July 1976

| 23 September 1976

| align="center"| {{cite journal|publisher=Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado|journal=Boletín Oficial del Estado|issue=163|date=8 July 1976|language=es|title=Real Decreto 1606/1976, de 7 de julio, por el que se nombran Vicepresidentes del Gobierno a don Fernando de Santiago y Díaz de Mendívil y don Alfonso Osorio García|url=https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/1976/07/08/pdfs/A13385-13385.pdf|issn=0212-033X|page=13385}}
{{cite journal|publisher=Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado|journal=Boletín Oficial del Estado|issue=163|date=8 July 1976|language=es|title=Real Decreto 1607/1976, de 7 de julio, por el que que se nombran los Ministros del Gobierno|url=https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/1976/07/08/pdfs/A13385-13385.pdf|issn=0212-033X|page=13385}}

| Second Deputy Prime Minister
Minister of the Presidency

| Alfonso Osorio

| style="background-color:{{party color|Spanish Democratic Union}};"|

| UDE

| 8 July 1976

| 5 July 1977

| align="center"|

| Minister of Foreign Affairs

| Marcelino Oreja

| style="background-color:#660032;"|

| Tácito

| 8 July 1976

| 5 July 1977

| align="center"|

| Minister of Justice

| Landelino Lavilla

| style="background-color:#660032;"|

| Tácito

| 8 July 1976

| 5 July 1977

| align="center"|

| Minister of the Army

| Félix Álvarez-Arenas

| style="background-color:{{party color|Military}};"|

| Military

| 8 July 1976

| 5 July 1977

| align="center"|

| Minister of the Navy

| Gabriel Pita da Veiga

| style="background-color:{{party color|Military}};"|

| Military

| 8 July 1976

| 15 April 1977

| align="center"|

| Minister of Finance

| Eduardo Carriles

| style="background-color:{{party color|Spanish Democratic Union}};"|

| UDE

| 8 July 1976

| 5 July 1977

| align="center"|

| Minister of Governance

| Rodolfo Martín Villa

| style="background-color:{{party color|Independent politician}};"|

| GPI

| 8 July 1976

| 5 July 1977

| align="center"|

| Minister of Public Works

| Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo

| style="background-color:#A0A0A0;"|

| FEDISA

| 8 July 1976

| 23 April 1977

| align="center"|

| Minister of Education and Science

| Aurelio Menéndez

| style="background-color:{{party color|Nonpartisan politician}};"|

| Nonpartisan

| 8 July 1976

| 5 July 1977

| align="center"|

| Minister of Labour

| Álvaro Rengifo

| style="background-color:{{party color|Nonpartisan politician}};"|

| Nonpartisan

| 8 July 1976

| 5 July 1977

| align="center"|

| Minister of Industry

| Carlos Pérez de Bricio

| style="background-color:#A0A0A0;"|

| FEDISA

| 8 July 1976

| 5 July 1977

| align="center"|

| Minister of the Air

| Carlos Franco Iribarnegaray

| style="background-color:{{party color|Military}};"|

| Military

| 8 July 1976

| 5 July 1977

| align="center"|

| Minister of Agriculture

| Fernando Abril Martorell

| style="background-color:{{party color|Independent politician}};"|

| UDPE/Indep.{{efn|name="AP"}}

| 8 July 1976

| 5 July 1977

| align="center"|

| Minister Secretary-General of the Movement

| Ignacio García López

| style="background-color:{{party color|Independent politician}};"|

| UDPE/Indep.{{efn|name="AP"}}

| 8 July 1976

| 7 April 1977

| align="center"|

| Minister of Trade

| José Lladó

| style="background-color:{{party color|Independent politician}};"|

| UDPE/Indep.{{efn|name="AP"}}

| 8 July 1976

| 5 July 1977

| align="center"|

| Minister of Information and Tourism

| Andrés Reguera

| style="background-color:{{party color|Spanish Democratic Union}};"|

| UDE

| 8 July 1976

| 5 July 1977

| align="center"|

| Minister of Housing

| Francisco Lozano Vicente

| style="background-color:{{party color|Nonpartisan politician}};"|

| Nonpartisan

| 8 July 1976

| 5 July 1977

| align="center"|

| Minister for Trade Union Relations

| Enrique de la Mata

| style="background-color:{{party color|Spanish Democratic Union}};"|

| UDE

| 8 July 1976

| 5 July 1977

| align="center"|

| colspan="7"|

=Changes September 1976=

! Portfolio

! Name

! colspan="2"| Faction

! Took office

! Left office

! {{abbr|Ref.|Reference}}

| First Deputy Prime Minister for Defence Affairs{{efn|Following Fernando de Santiago's dismissal as First Deputy Prime Minister on 23 September 1976, the post was rebranded as the post of the First Deputy Prime Minister for Defence Affairs.}}
Minister without portfolio

| Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado

| style="background-color:{{party color|Military}};"|

| Military

| 23 September 1976

| 5 July 1977

| align="center"| {{cite journal|publisher=Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado|journal=Boletín Oficial del Estado|issue=229|date=23 September 1976|language=es|title=Real Decreto 2217/1976, de 22 de septiembre, por el que se nombra Ministro sin cartera y Vicepresidente primero del Gobierno para Asuntos de la Defensa a don Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado|url=https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/1976/09/23/pdfs/A18586-18586.pdf|issn=0212-033X|page=18586}}

| colspan="7"|

=Changes April 1977=

! Portfolio

! Name

! colspan="2"| Faction

! Took office

! Left office

! {{abbr|Ref.|Reference}}

| Minister of the Navy

| Pascual Pery

| style="background-color:{{party color|Military}};"|

| Military

| 15 April 1977

| 5 July 1977

| align="center"| {{cite journal|publisher=Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado|journal=Boletín Oficial del Estado|issue=80|date=15 April 1977|language=es|title=Real Decreto 655/1977, de 14 de abril, por el que se nombra Ministro de Marina a don Pascual Pery Junquera|url=https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/1977/04/15/pdfs/A08219-08219.pdf|issn=0212-033X|page=8219}}

| rowspan="2"| Minister of Public Works

| colspan="6"| {{resize|Carlos Pérez de Bricio took on the ordinary discharge of duties from 23 April to 11 May 1977.{{cite journal|publisher=Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado|journal=Boletín Oficial del Estado|issue=98|date=25 April 1977|language=es|title=Real Decreto 774/1977, de 23 de abril, por el que se dispone que el Ministro de Industria se encargue del Despacho del Departamento de Obras Públicas|url=https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/1977/04/25/pdfs/A08901-08901.pdf|issn=0212-033X|page=8901}}}}

| Luis Ortiz González

| style="background-color:{{party color|Independent politician}};"|

| Independent

| 11 May 1977

| 5 July 1977

| align="center"| {{cite journal|publisher=Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado|journal=Boletín Oficial del Estado|issue=112|date=11 May 1977|language=es|title=Real Decreto 1019/1977, de 10 de mayo, por el que se nombra Ministro de Obras Públicas a don Luis Ortiz González|url=https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/1977/05/11/pdfs/A10348-10348.pdf|issn=0212-033X|page=10348}}

| Minister Secretary of the Government{{efn|On 7 April 1977, the Minister Secretary-General of the Movement was reorganized as the Minister Secretary of the Government.}}

| Ignacio García López

| style="background-color:{{party color|Independent politician}};"|

| Independent

| 7 April 1977

| 5 July 1977

| align="center"|

Notes

References

Bibliography

{{cite book|last=T. Powell|first=Charles|year=1990|editor-last1=Lannon|editor-first1=Frances|editor-last2=Preston|editor-first2=Paul|title=Élites and Power in Twentieth-Century Spain: Essays in Honour of Sir Raymond Carr|publisher=Clarendon Press, University of Oxford|pages=249–268|chapter=The ‘Tácito’ group and Spain’s transition to democracy, 1973-1977|chapter-url=https://charlespowell.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/1990-The-Tacito-group-and-the-transition-to-democracy.pdf|isbn=978-0198228806}}
{{cite thesis|last=Fernández-Miranda Lozana|first=Pilar|year=1994|title=La Reforma Política (Contribución a la historia de la Transición)|publisher=Complutense University of Madrid|url=https://eprints.ucm.es/2178/1/T19456.pdf|language=es|access-date=23 August 2020}}
{{cite book|last=T. Powell|first=Charles|year=1997|editor-last1=Tusell Gómez|editor-first1=Javier|editor-last2=Montero García|editor-first2=Feliciano|editor-last3=Marín Arce|editor-first3=José María|title=Las derechas en la España contemporánea|language=es|publisher=Anthropos|pages=247–270|chapter=Crisis del franquismo, reformismo y transición a la democracia|chapter-url=https://charlespowell.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/1997-Crisis-del-franquismo-reformismo-y-transici%C3%B3n-a-la-democracia.pdf|isbn=84-7658-524-1}}
{{cite thesis|last=Rodríguez Teruel|first=Juan|date=2004–2005|title=Los Ministros de la España democrática. Perfil, trayectorias y carrera ministerial de los miembros de Suárez a Zapatero (1976-2005)|publisher=Autonomous University of Barcelona|url=https://www.tdx.cat/bitstream/handle/10803/5094/jrt1de1.pdf|language=es|access-date=23 August 2020}}
{{cite book|last=Ruiz Carnicer|first=Miguel Ángel|year=2013|title=Falange, las culturas políticas del fascismo en la España de Franco (1936-1975)|language=es|publisher=Autonomous University of Barcelona|pages=499–514|chapter=La Unión del Pueblo Español (UDPE): los orígenes de la macro-asociación azul de Alianza Popular (AP)|chapter-url=https://ifc.dpz.es/recursos/publicaciones/32/79/28delrio.pdf|isbn=978-84-9911-216-9}}

External links

[http://humanidades.cchs.csic.es/ih/paginas/jrug/diccionario/gabinetes/m8_juancarlos.htm Governments. Juan Carlos I (20.11.1975 ...)]. CCHS-CSIC (in Spanish).
[http://www.historiaelectoral.com/gob1975.html Governments of Spain 1975–1977. Ministers of Carlos Arias Navarro and Adolfo Suárez]. Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish).
[http://www.lluisbelenes.es/JoanCarles.htm The governments of the Transition (1975–1977)]. Lluís Belenes i Rodríguez History Page (in Spanish).
[http://dbe.rah.es/ Biographies]. Royal Academy of History (in Spanish).

{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Government of Spain}}|years=1976–1977}}

Category:1976 establishments in Spain

Category:1977 disestablishments in Spain

Category:Cabinets established in 1976

Category:Cabinets disestablished in 1977

Category:Council of Ministers (Spain)