Territorial policy
Introduction
The Secretary of State for Territorial Policy (SEPT) of Spain is the highest body of the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory that assumes the promotion, direction and management of the policy of the Government of the Nation in relation to the territorial organization and activity of the State, the General Administration of the State in the territory, as well as the institutional relations with the autonomous communities and local entities "Local Administration (Spain)").[1].
Likewise, the Secretary of State for Territorial Policy is responsible for promoting and coordinating the Conference of Presidents "Conference of Presidents (Spain)"), as well as the presidency of the Council of Official Languages.[1].
History
The need to create a body focused on the coordination of the different administrations of the State appears after the approval of the Constitution (although previously the Ministry of the Interior already assumed coordination with local entities), which established a decentralized State made up of autonomous communities. Due to this, the Ministry of Territorial Administration was created in 1979 and disappeared in 1986.[2] As direct antecedents to the current Secretariat of State, there were two others: the Secretariat of State for the Autonomous Communities (1980[3] -1987[4]) and the Secretariat of State for Local Corporations (1980[3]). The first focused on relations with the autonomies and the development of the autonomous State while the second barely lasted a few months and was in charge of local entities. After the suppression of the second, the general directorates on local administration reported directly to the minister.
In 1987, the Ministry of Public Administrations was created, which assumed functions regarding the public function and territorial organization, creating the Secretary of State for Territorial Administrations, which focused on relations with the different administrations, both regional and local.[4].
In 2000, the Secretariat of State was renamed the Secretariat of State for Territorial Organization of the State[5] and was renamed again in 2004 as the Secretariat of State for Territorial Cooperation, although it did not have powers over the Peripheral Administration of the State.[6] In 2011 the President of the Government, Mariano Rajoy, with the aim of reducing the country's deficit, reduced the government apparatus by integrating this Secretariat of State into the new Secretariat of State. of Public Administrations (in charge of both the public function and relations with administrations) and the Ministry of Public Administrations was merged with the Ministry of Finance, giving rise to the Ministry of Finance and Public Administrations.