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| Secretary of State for Tourism | |
|---|---|
| Secretario de Estado de Turismo | |
.svg) Coat of Arms used by the Government | |
 | |
.png) Incumbent since 17 April 2024Rosario Sánchez Grau | |
| Ministry of Industry and Tourism Secretariat of State for Tourism | |
| Style | The Most Excellent (formal) Mrs. Secretary of State (informal) |
| Abbreviation | SETUR |
| Nominator | The Industry Minister |
| Appointer | The Monarch |
| Precursor | Under Secretary of Tourism |
| Formation | July 4, 1977 |
| First holder | Ignacio Aguirre Borrell |
| Website | turismo.gob.es |
The secretary of state for tourism is a senior minister of the Spanish Ministry of Industry and Tourism responsible for the government policy on tourism,[1] one of the most developed economic sectors in Spain, representing approximately 12.6% of GDP and 12.3% of total employment in 2024.[2]
The secretary of state also assists the minister in coordinating the tourism policies of the different Spanish administrations—through the Interministerial Committee on Tourism within the General State Administration and through the Sectoral Conference on Tourism for the regions—and with the international relations on this matter, in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In addition, and through the Tourism Institute of Spain (TURESPAÑA), whose presidency corresponds to the secretary of state, the government exercises the function of external promotion of tourism. The secretary of state also manages the State Financial Fund for Tourism Competitiveness (FOCIT), a fund destined to support the renovation, modernization or transformation plans of developed tourist destinations.[1]
History
[edit]The position of Secretary of State for Tourism was created in summer 1977 after a massive State Administration reform. According to the law that created it, the Secretariat of State assumed the competences of the suppressed Undersecretariat of Tourism and all the bodies that integrated it were transferred to the new Secretariat of State.[3] The Undersecretariat of Tourism was created in 1952[4] and was integrated in the Ministry of Information and Tourism, that was also suppressed in 1977 and replaced by the Ministry of Trade and Tourism.
In 1982, the Secretariat of State is suppressed after a government reform that created a new Ministry called Ministry of Transport, Tourism and Communications and its competences were transferred to a newly body named General Secretariat for Tourism. This General Secretariat survived until 2011 but since 1996 to 2000 was subordinated to the Secretariat of State for Trade, Tourism and SMEs with the First Aznar Government, to the Secretary of State for Trade and Tourism from 2000 to 2004 with the Second Aznar Government, to the Secretary of State for Tourism and Trade from 2004 to 2008 with the First Zapatero Government and from 2008 to 2011 to the Secretary of State for Tourism, after being suppressed by the pro-austerity Government of Mariano Rajoy.
Since 2011 the Secretariat of State has been autonomous and mainly focused in managing the Spanish tourism sector which has become one of the most developed and most important sectors in the economy, representing almost a 12% of GDP and a 13% of the employment by 2018[5] with more than 82 million tourist each year.[6]
Names
[edit]- Secretary of State for Tourism (1977–1981)
- Secretary of State for Trade, Tourism and SMEs (1996–2000)
- Secretary of State for Trade and Tourism (2000–2004)
- Secretary of State for Tourism and Trade (2004–2008)
- Secretary of State for Tourism (2008–present)
Structure
[edit]The Secretariat of State is composed of the following departments:[1]
- The Directorate-General for Tourism Policies.
- It's the department responsible for designing strategies to improve tourist destinations, for developing plans and programs to promote innovation, quality, sustainability and competitiveness of tourism products, for promoting the use of new technologies in tourism and for assisting the secretary of state in the national and international coordination of tourism policies.
- The directorate-general is structured by a Deputy Directorate-General for Tourism Development and Sustainability, a Division for Cooperation and Tourism Competitiveness and a Division for Tourism Programs and Economic Affairs.
- The Cabinet.
- With the administrative rank of deputy directorate-general, the Cabinet provides political, technical, parliamentary, institutional and communication support to the secretary of state.
The secretary of state chairs the Tourism Institute of Spain (TURESPAÑA) and oversees the activity of the State Financial Fund for Tourism Competitiveness (Spanish: Fondo Financiero del Estado para la Competitividad Turística, FOCIT) and of the public enterprises Paradores and State Commercial Company for the Management of Innovation and Tourism Technologies (SEGITTUR).[1]
List of secretaries of state
[edit]| No. | Image | Name | Term of Office | Prime Minister | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Began | Ended | Days of Service | ||||
| 1º | |
Ignacio Aguirre Borrell | 12 July 1977 | 28 February 1981 | 1327 | Adolfo Suárez |
| 2º | |
Eloy Ybáñez Bueno | 9 March 1981[7] | 8 December 1982 | 639 | Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo |
| 3º | |
José Manuel Fernández Norniella[8] | 8 May 1996 | 20 June 1998 | 773 | José María Aznar |
| 4º |  |
Elena Pisonero Ruiz | 20 June 1996 | 6 May 2000 | 1416 | |
| 5º | .jpg) |
Juan Costa Climent | 6 May 2000 | 6 September 2003 | 1218 | |
| 6º | |
Francisco Utrera Mora | 6 September 2003 | 20 April 2004 | 227 | |
| 7º | |
Pedro Mejía Gómez | 24 April 2004 | 22 April 2008 | 1459 | José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero |
| 8º | |
Joan Mesquida Ferrando | 22 April 2008 | 27 July 2010 | 2285 | |
| 9º | .jpg) |
Isabel María Borrego | 31 December 2011 | 12 November 2016 | 1778 | Mariano Rajoy |
| 10º |  |
Matilde Asian González | 22 November 2016 | 19 June 2018 | 574 | |
| 11º | .jpg) |
Isabel Maria Oliver Sagreras | 19 June 2018[9] | 15 July 2020 | 757 | Pedro Sánchez |
| 12º | .jpg) |
Fernando Valdés Verelst | 15 July 2020[10] | 21 December 2022 | 889 | |
| 13º | .jpg) |
Rosa Ana Morillo Rodríguez | 21 December 2022 | 17 April 2024 | 483 | |
| 14º | |
Rosario Sánchez Grau | 17 April 2024 | Incumbent | 840 | |
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 Ministerio para la Transformación Digital y de la Función Pública (24 April 2024), Real Decreto 409/2024, de 23 de abril, por el que se desarrolla la estructura orgánica básica del Ministerio de Industria y Turismo (in Spanish), pp. 45750–45772, retrieved 25 March 2026
- ↑ Sempere, Pablo (22 December 2025). "El turismo deja definitivamente atrás la pandemia y vuelve a aportar el 12,6% del PIB a España". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 March 2026.
- ↑ "Royal Decree 1558/1977, of July 4, by which certain organs of the Central State Administration are restructured". www.boe.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 December 2018.
- ↑ "DECREE of February 15, 1952, organic of the Ministry of Information and Tourism" (PDF). 25 February 1952. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
- ↑ "Sánchez reivindica el turismo como "salvavidas" de la economía y el empleo en España". El Independiente (in European Spanish). 21 January 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
- ↑ "Spain tourist arrivals mark record for 6th straight year in 2018:..." Reuters. 16 January 2019. Archived from the original on 16 January 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
- ↑ "Eloy Ibáñez Bueno,". El País (in Spanish). 2 April 1981. ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
- ↑ "JOSÉ MANUEL FERNÁNDEZ NORNIELLA". El País (in Spanish). 8 May 1996. ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
- ↑ Hosteltur. "La mallorquina Isabel Oliver es la nueva Secretaria de Estado de Turismo | Economía". Hosteltur: Toda la información de turismo (in European Spanish). Retrieved 21 January 2019.
- ↑ HD, Redacción (15 July 2020). "Fernando Valdés, nuevo secretario de Estado de Turismo". Hosteleria Digital (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 August 2020.