The second deputy prime minister of Spain, officially Second Vice President of the Government of Spain, is a senior member of the Government of Spain. The office of the Second Deputy Prime Minister is defined in the Constitution but is not a permanent position, existing only at the discretion of the Prime Minister. The current second deputy prime minister is Yolanda Díaz, who is also minister of Labour and Social Economy.

History

The office was established by the Organic Act of the State of 1967 which allowed for the creation of a Council of Ministers composed of the Prime Minister, one or more Deputy Prime Ministers and the Ministers. However, it was not until 1974, one year after the dictator Francisco Franco split the office of head of government (prime minister) and head of state, that prime minister Arias Navarro appointed Antonio Barrera Irimo, Minister of Finance as second deputy prime minister. In Arias Navarro's second term, the Finance Minister Rafael Cabello de Alba was also appointed second deputy prime minister in October 1974. During his third term, Arias Navarro appointed Minister of the Interior Manuel Fraga as second deputy prime minister. Prime minister Adolfo Suárez appointed his Interior Minister, Alfonso Osorio García and Minister of the Presidency as second deputy prime minister. From 1977 to 1981, Suárez appointed his Finance Ministers as Second Deputies and during his short term, Calvo-Sotelo did the same. Socialist PM González never appointed a second deputy prime minister during his almost 14 years of premiership. José María Aznar and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero however followed the previous pattern of appointing their Finance Minister as second deputy prime minister. However, a cabinet reshuffle in 2011 appointed the Minister of Territorial Policy and Civil Service, Manuel Chaves as second deputy prime minister. The conservative PM Mariano Rajoy did not appoint a second deputy prime minister. The subsequent prime minister Pedro Sánchez did not appoint in second deputy prime minister in his first government, but he did in his second term. In March 2021, after the resignation of Pablo Iglesias as second deputy prime minister, the tradition of appointing a minister of economic affairs as second deputy PM was resumed. In July 2021, Labour and Social Economy Minister Yolanda Díaz was appointed as second deputy PM.

Powers

The office of second deputy prime minister does not possess special constitutional powers beyond its responsibility as a member of the Council of Ministers. The position is regulated in the Government Act of 1997 and it only specifies that the raison d'être of the office is to replace the Prime Minister when the office is vacant, or the premier is absent or ill. The second deputy prime minister only assumes this responsibility if the first deputy is unable to fill the role.

List of officeholders

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