Deputy Prime Minister of Spain

The first deputy prime minister of Spain, officially First Vice President of the Government of Spain, is the second in command to the prime minister of Spain, assuming the prime ministers duties when the prime minister is absent or incapable of exercising power. When there is only one deputy prime minister in the government, the office is referred to without the cardinal number: deputy prime minister of Spain, officially Vice President of the Government of Spain. The first deputy prime minister is usually handpicked by the Prime Minister from the members of the Cabinet and appointed by the monarch before whom they take an oath. The headquarters of the Deputy Prime Minister's Office is the Semillas Building, in La Moncloa Complex. History The office of Deputy Prime Minister, like the premiership, dates back to the 19th century. A Royal Decree of 1840 appoints Joaquín María Ferrer as Vice President of the Council of Ministers. However the office was not used again until 1925 when Miguel Primo de Rivera transitioned from a military to a civil government, reestablishing the Council of Ministers, the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and re-creating the Vice Presidency. The vice president's function was to replace the president in cases of absence or illness. This vice-president, said article 3 of the Royal Decree, was appointed by the president from among the members of the Council of Ministers. The Vice Presidency was vested in the Under Secretary of the Interior, Severiano Martínez Anido, who combined the position with that of Interior Minister. With the resignation of Primo de Rivera and the fall of the monarchy, the Second Republic was established in Spain, which did not initially consider a deputy prime minister necessary. However, in December 1933, Prime Minister Lerroux appointed Diego Martínez Barrio Vice President of the Council of Ministers, a position from which he resigned only three months later.