Fourth Deputy Prime Minister of Spain explained

Post:	Fourth Deputy Prime Minister
Insignia:	Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
Insigniasize:	100px
Insigniacaption:	Coat of arms of Spain
Department:	Government of Spain Council of Ministers
Incumbent:	Office abolished
Style:	Excelentísimo/a Señor/a
Member Of:	Cabinet
Residence:	Palacio de la Moncloa
Seat:	Madrid, Spain
Nominator:	Prime Minister
Appointer:	Monarch
Termlength:	No fixed term
Termlength Qualified:	No term limits are imposed on the office.
Constituting Instrument:	Constitution of 1978
First:	Teresa Ribera
Last:	María Jesús Montero
Abolished:	12 July 2021 29 December 2023

The fourth deputy prime minister, officially Fourth Vice President of the Government (es|Vicepresidencia Cuarta del Gobierno de España), is a senior member of the Government of Spain. The office of the Fourth Deputy Prime Minister is not a permanent position, existing only at the discretion of the Prime Minister. It is a constitutional office because it is foreseen in the Constitution when it provides for the possibility of existing more than one Vice Presidency.

History and powers

It is an office of new creation established on 13 January 2020.^[1] Teresa Ribera, the minister for the Ecological Transition, was appointed the first officeholder.

The office of fourth deputy prime minister does not possess special constitutional powers beyond its responsibility as a member of the Council of Ministers. The position is regulated in the Government Act of 1997 and it only specifies that the raison d'être of the office is to replace the Prime Minister when the office is vacant, or the premier is absent or ill.^[2] The fourth deputy prime minister only assumes this responsibility if the first, second and third deputies could not do it.

The office was abolished on 12 July 2021, when Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez promoted Teresa Ribera to third deputy prime minister. It was re-established on 21 November 2023, when Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez appointed María Jesús Montero to the office.

List of officeholders

Office name:

• Fourth Vice Presidency of the Government (2020–2021; 2023)

Portrait	Name	Term of office			Party		Government	Prime Minister
	Teresa Ribera	2020	2021			PSOE	Sánchez II		Pedro Sánchez	^[3] ^[4]
	María Jesús Montero	2023	2023			PSOE	Sánchez III		Pedro Sánchez	^[5] ^[6]

See also

• Deputy Prime Minister of Spain
• Second Deputy Prime Minister of Spain
• Third Deputy Prime Minister of Spain

Notes and References

1. News: 9 January 2020 . El anuncio de una cuarta vicepresidencia descoloca a Podemos . Spanish . . 13 January 2020.
2. Ley 50/1997, de 27 de noviembre, del Gobierno . Law . 50 . es . 28 November 1997 . 13 January 2020.
3. Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado. Boletín Oficial del Estado . 11 . 13 January 2020. Spanish. Real Decreto 7/2020, de 12 de enero, por el que se nombra Vicepresidenta Cuarta del Gobierno a doña Teresa Ribera Rodríguez. 0212-033X. 2881.
4. Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado. Boletín Oficial del Estado. 165. 12 July 2021. es. Real Decreto 512/2021, de 10 de julio, por el que se dispone el cese de doña Teresa Ribera Rodríguez como Vicepresidenta Cuarta del Gobierno. 0212-033X. 82886.
5. Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado. Boletín Oficial del Estado. 278. 21 November 2023. es. Real Decreto 834/2023, de 20 de noviembre, por el que se nombra Vicepresidenta Cuarta del Gobierno a doña María Jesús Montero Cuadrado. 0212-033X. 154694.
6. Agencia Estatal Boletín Oficial del Estado. Boletín Oficial del Estado. 312. 29 December 2023. es. Real Decreto 1233/2023, de 29 de diciembre, por el que se dispone el cese de doña María Jesús Montero Cuadrado como Vicepresidenta Cuarta del Gobierno. 0212-033X. 177015.