Secretary of State for Global Spain

The origin of the Secretariat of State for Global Spain dates back to 2012,[5] when the government of Mariano Rajoy, launched the position of High Commissioner of the Government for Brand Spain, a position entrusted with the objective of coordinating the multiple private and public bodies that had an foreign action in order to give coherence to the image of Spain outside its borders. Created during the economic crisis, it had its own office known as Office of the High Commissioner but had no budget.

With the change of government in 2018, and following numerous criticisms of its lack of regulation, control and budget, the Foreign Minister Josep Borrell reformed the office orienting it to «present Spain as it is, a full democracy», in a clear allusion to the deterioration of Spain’s image arising from the Catalan separatist challenge, and bestowing it with its own budget. In October of that year, it was granted the level of Secretariat of State (Deputy Ministry) and was fully integrated in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation.

After Irene Lozano’s departure and the arrival of Manuel Muñiz Villa as Secretary of State and Arancha González Laya as Minister, the Secretariat of State was restructured to extend its competences with the transferal of the Directorate-General for International Economic Relations, then renamed Directorate-General for Economic Diplomacy, the Directorate-General for Communications, Public Diplomacy and Media, as well as the creation of the Directorate-General for Strategy, Foresight and Coherence.[6]

The Secretariat of State is composed of three departments, all of them run by a Director-General:[6]

• The Directorate-General for Strategy, Forecast and Coherence: A department created in 2020 responsible for carrying out analysis and studies of the current situation and establishing a coherent strategy for Spain’s foreign policy, and ensuring its adequate implementation. It also conducts foresight studies aimed at providing Spain with the capacity to adjust to the changing international landscape. This department contains the Policy Planning Staff of the Ministry. It is also responsible for preserving the international reputation of Spain.
• The Directorate-General for Economic Diplomacy: A department of the Secretariat of State responsible for the proposal and execution of Spain’s foreign policy in a wide range of fields. These include international economic relations of a bilateral and multilateral nature, the institutional representation of Spain in organizations such as the OECD, the proposal and execution of Spanish foreign policy in air, maritime, terrestrial cooperation, and space, oceanic and polar matters, and the negotiation and internal processing of international, bilateral and multilateral agreements.
• The Directorate-General for Communication, Public Diplomacy and Media: Traditionally known as the Diplomatic Information Office (OID), it is the department responsible for gathering and disseminating information to the Ministry and the media. It also carries out advertising campaigns and coordinates the Ministry’s media platforms.

As well as the duties previously outlined, the Secretariat of State is specifically in charge of:

• The formulation and elaboration of the strategic lines of action that ought to guide the foreign action of the organs of public administrations and their dependent bodies, within the framework given by the 2014 Law of the Action and Exterior Service of the State. Additionally, it is in charge of the impetus, coordination and development of the corresponding strategic documents and action plans.
• The formulation and execution of Spain’s foreign policy with regard to economic diplomacy.
• The formulation and execution of Spain’s foreign policy with regard to public diplomacy, as well as the coordination of all the public administrations, bodies and concerned entities in this remit, within the framework of the provisions in the 2014 Law of the Action and Exterior Service of the State. It is also in charge of facilitating the participation of private entities with international projection in said policy of public diplomacy through the corresponding instruments of public-private cooperation.
• The formulation and execution of Spain’s foreign policy with regard to the defence and the promotion of the image and international reputation of the country, as well as the coordination of all the public administrations, bodies and concerned entities in this remit.
• The formulation and execution of the Ministry’s communications policy.

• Marca España (Brand Spain) website