First government of Adolfo Suárez facts for kids

Quick facts for kids 1st government of Adolfo Suárez
Government of Spain
1976–1977
Adolfo Suárez in August 1977.
Date formed	8 July 1976
Date dissolved	5 July 1977
People and organisations
Head of state	Juan Carlos I
Prime Minister	Adolfo Suárez
Deputy Prime Ministers	Fernando de Santiago1st, Alfonso Osorio2nd (1976) Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado1st, Alfonso Osorio2nd (1976–1977)
No. of ministers	19
Total no. of members	22
Member party	National Movement (Legal associations, military, nonpartisans) (1976–1977)   UCD (1977)
Status in legislature	One-party state
History
Legislature term(s)	10th Cortes Españolas
Budget(s)	1977
Predecessor	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. It succeeded the second Arias Navarro government and was the Government of Spain from 8 July 1976 to 5 July 1977, a total of 362 days, or 11 months and 27 days.

Suárez's first cabinet comprised members from the National Movement (with the notable absences of FET y de las JONS and the Opus Dei), but also by members of the reformist 'Tácito' group, 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. 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.

On 7 April 1977, the National Movement and the FET y de las JONS party were officially disbanded, 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.

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.
• 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; he was replaced by Admiral Pascual Pery on 15 April.
• 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. 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.

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.

See also

In Spanish: Primer Gobierno Suárez para niños