Ministry of the Air Force (Spain)

The Ministry of the Air Force (Spanish: Ministerio del Aire) was a government department of Spain that was tasked with oversight of both the Spanish Air Force (Ejército del Aire) and civil aviation during the Francoist regime.

Ministry of the Air Force
Spanish: Ministerio del Aire

The Ministry of the Air building, formerly the site of the air ministry
Agency overview
Formed9 August 1939 (1939-08-09)
Preceding
  • Ministry of National Defense
Dissolved4 July 1977 (1977-07-04)
Superseding agency
JurisdictionSpanish Air Force and civil aviation
HeadquartersThe Ministry of the Air building
Ministers responsible
  • LTG Juan Yagüe, first Minister
  • LTG Carlos Franco Iribarnegaray, last Minister
Agency executive

The ministry was created on 8 August 1939, after the end of the Spanish Civil War. It was dissolved on 4 July 1977 by the Royal Decree 1558/77, being merged with the Ministry of Defence as part of the transition to democracy.

History

During the Second Spanish Republic there had been the Dirección General de Aeronáutica, an agency that had both military and civil aviation under its jurisdiction, but it disappeared after the start of the Spanish Civil War.

The direct predecessor of the Ministry of the Air Force was the Ministry of National Defense, created in 1938 during the first government of Francisco Franco, under the then commander of the Army of the North, Fidel Dávila Arrondo.[1] The three branches of the Armed Forces (Army, Navy and Air Force) were grouped under its control.[2] The Ministry of the Air Force was created in the second government of Francisco Franco; it was defined and regulated by Law of 8 August 1939,[2] whose organization and functions were delimited by Decree of 1 September 1939. General Juan Yagüe was appointed Minister, with Fernando Barron as Undersecretary.[3]

After the end of the Civil War, Yagüe intended to build a new Air Force out of the Aviación Nacional with the help of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, and with the clear intention of participating in World War II on the side of the Axis powers.[4] At the beginning of World War II the new Air Force had 14 regiments and 3 groups,[5] composed in turn by 172 fighters and 164 bombers of different types, along with 82 assisting planes and 75 other devices of different types captured from the Spanish Republican Air Force.[6] The reports issued by the General Staff, however, left in evidence the bad state in which the airplanes were, the lack of spare parts and fuel.[7] In the end, the project to expand the Air Force was a failure given the situation in the country, and Yagüe was dismissed and replaced by General Juan Vigón.[4] Since 1940, different locations in Madrid were searched for the future headquarters of the Ministry, and after several options a site in the district of Moncloa-Aravaca was chosen. The lots are acquired by the City Council of Madrid, under then Mayor of Madrid Alberto Alcocer y Ribacoba; General Vigón instructed architect Luis Gutiérrez Soto on the renovation of the area and the design of the new building. Although the Ministry of the Air building was not completed until 1958, it was already fulfilling its mission in 1954.

The Ministry was abolished by the Royal Decree 1558/77 of 4 July 1977, when Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez created the Ministry of Defence as part of his second government (formed following the 1977 general election[8]), which integrated the ministries of the Army, Navy and Air Force during the transition to democracy.

Organic structure

On 5 September 1939 the structure of the Ministry was organized, being composed of the following departments:[9]

  • General Staff of the Air Force.
  • Undersecretary, overseeing general directorates of: Civil Aviation, Personnel, Infrastructure, Material and Antiaeronautics (anti-aircraft).
  • Senior Advisory Council.
  • Private Secretary of the Minister.
  • General and Technical Secretariat.
  • Political Secretariat.
  • Administrative Technical Board.
  • Legal advice.

List of ministers
No. Portrait MinisterTook officeLeft officeTime in officePartyCabinetRef
1
Yagüe, JuanLieutenant General
Juan Yagüe
(1891–1952)		9 August 193927 June 1940323 daysMilitaryFranco II[10]
2
Vigón, JuanLieutenant General
Juan Vigón
(1880–1955)		27 June 194020 July 19455 years, 23 daysMilitaryFranco II[11]
3
González-Gallarza, EduardoLieutenant General
Eduardo González-Gallarza
(1898–1986)		20 July 194525 February 195711 years, 220 daysMilitaryFranco III–IV[12]
4
Díaz de Lecea, José RodríguezLieutenant General
José Rodríguez Díaz de Lecea
(1894–1967)		25 February 195711 July 19625 years, 136 daysMilitaryFranco V[13]
5
Lacalle Larraga, JoséLieutenant General
José Lacalle Larraga
(1897–1981)		11 July 196230 October 19697 years, 111 daysMilitaryFranco VI–VII[14]
6
Díaz-Benjumea, Julio SalvadorLieutenant General
Julio Salvador y Díaz-Benjumea
(1910–1987)		30 October 196931 December 19734 years, 62 daysMilitaryFranco VIII
Carrero Blanco		[15][16]
7
Cuadra Medina, MarianoLieutenant General
Mariano Cuadra Medina
(1912–1981)		4 January 197412 December 19751 year, 342 daysMilitaryArias Navarro I[17]
8
Iribarnegaray, Carlos FrancoLieutenant General
Carlos Franco Iribarnegaray
(1912–1982)		12 December 19755 July 19771 year, 205 daysMilitaryArias Navarro II
Suárez I		[18][19]

See also

References
  1. Hugh Thomas (1976); La Guerra Civil Española, pág. 811
  2. Mariano Aguilar Olivencia (1999); pág. 38
  3. "Ejército del Aire – Historia 1939". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  4. Paul Preston (2008); pág. 129
  5. Mariano Aguilar Olivencia (1999); pág. 72
  6. Mariano Aguilar Olivencia (1999); pág. 73
  7. Paul Preston (2008); pág. 132
  8. "Suárez, confirmado por el Rey, formará nuevo Gobierno". El País (in Spanish). 18 June 1977. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  9. BOE núm. 248, pp. 4938-4941 (5 de septiembre de 1939)
  10. "Decretos de 9 de agosto de 1939 nombrando Ministros de Asuntos Exteriores a don Juan Beigbeder Atienza; Ejército, Al General de División D. José Enrique Varela Iglesias; Marina, Al Vicealmirante D. Salvador Moreno Fernández: Aire, al General de Brigada, D. Juan Yagüe Blanco: Justicia, a D. Esteban Bilbao Eguía; Hacienda, a don José Larraz López; Industria y Comercio, a don Luis Alarcón de la Lastra; Agricultura, a D. Joaquín Benjumea Burín; Educacion Nacional, a D. José Ibáñez Martín" (pdf). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado (223): 4376–4377. 11 August 1939. ISSN 0212-033X.
  11. "Decreto de 27 de junio de 1940 por el que se nombra Minsitro del Aire, al General de División don Juan Vigón Suerodíaz" (pdf). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado (180): 4416. 28 June 1940. ISSN 0212-033X.
  12. "Decreto de 20 de julio de 1945 por el que se nombra Ministro del Aire a don Eduardo González Gallarza" (pdf). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado (202): 520. 21 July 1945. ISSN 0212-033X.
  13. "Decreto de 25 de febrero de 1957 por el que se nombra Ministro del Aire a don José Rodríguez y Díaz de Lecea" (pdf). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado (57): 1236. 26 February 1957. ISSN 0212-033X.
  14. "Decreto 1499/1962, de 10 de julio, por el que se nombra Ministro del Aire a don José Lacalle Larraga" (pdf). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado (165): 9653. 11 July 1962. ISSN 0212-033X.
  15. "Decreto 2561/1969, de 29 de octubre, por el que se nombra Ministro del Aire a don Julio Salvador y Díaz-Benjumea" (pdf). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado (260): 16977. 30 October 1969. ISSN 0212-033X.
  16. "Decreto 1159/1973, de 11 de junio, por el que se nombran los Ministros del Gobierno" (pdf). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado (140): 11883. 12 June 1973. ISSN 0212-033X.
  17. "Decreto 2/1974, de 3 de enero, por el que se nombran los Ministros del Gobierno" (pdf). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado (4): 179. 4 January 1974. ISSN 0212-033X.
  18. "Decreto 3237/1975, de 11 de diciembre, por el que se nombran Ministros del Gobierno" (pdf). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado (298): 25861. 12 December 1975. ISSN 0212-033X.
  19. "Real Decreto 1607/1976, de 7 de julio, por el que que se nombran los Ministros del Gobierno" (pdf). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado (163): 13385. 8 July 1976. ISSN 0212-033X.

Bibliography
  • Aguilar, Mariano (1999). El ejército español durante el franquismo (in Spanish). Madrid: Ediciones Akal. ISBN 84-460-0962-5.
  • Tamames Gómez, Ramón (1974). Historia de España Alfaguara VII. La República. La Era de Franco (in Spanish). Madrid: Alianza Editorial.
  • Preston, Paul (1994). Franco "Caudillo de España" (in Spanish) (Third ed.). Barcelona: Grijalbo. ISBN 97-884-2532-4987.
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