| Post: | Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructures |
| Native Name: | Secretario de Estado de Telecomunicaciones e Infraestructuras Digitales |
| Flag: | Logotipo de la Secretaría de Estado de Telecomunicaciones e Infraestructuras Digitales.png |
| Flagsize: | 300px |
| Insignia: | Escudo de España (mazonado).svg |
| Insigniasize: | 100px |
| Insigniacaption: | Coat of Arms used by the Government |
| Incumbent: | Roberto Sánchez Sánchez |
| Incumbentsince: | January 15, 2020 |
| Style: | The Most Excellent (formal) Mr/Ms. Secretary of State(informal) |
| Department: | Ministry of Economic Affairs Secretariat of State for Telecommunications |
| Reports To: | Minister for Economic Affairs |
| Nominator: | Minister for Economic Affairs |
| Appointer: | Monarch |
| First: | Baudilio Tomé Muguruza |
| Abbreviation: | SETID |
| Salary: | € 110,604 per year [1] |
| Precursor: | Secretary General for Communications |
| Formation: | April 27, 2000 |
| Website: | mineco.gob.es |
The Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructures (SETID) is senior minister of the Spanish Department of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation.
The Secretary of State for Telecommunications is responsible for the promotion, regulation and knowledge of the telecommunications sector, audiovisual services and the Information Society, the dialogue with the professional, industrial and academic sectors and the coordination or cooperation between different ministries and with other public administrations regarding these matters.
The Secretariat of State, led by the SETID, is divided in two departments; one with the level of Directorate-General and other with the level of Deputy Directorate-General.
Since the arrival of the democracy to Spain, becoming an advanced country was one of the goals of the first democratic governments and that means to have a good network of communications.
The importance was such that in 1977, a year before the Constitution was approved, a Ministry of Transport and Communications was created. This Ministry assumed most of the competences that the current Secretariat of State for Communications has and the organs of this ministry dedicated to telecoms had most of them the level of Directorate-General.
In 1985, because of the fast growing of the communications systems and media, the department dedicated to telecoms in this Ministry was elevated to the level of General Secretariat and was divided in three departments: for mail, for telecoms and for communications infraestructure.[2]
In 1990, the Ministry was fusionated with the Ministry of Development but maintain the communications department intact.
It wasn't until 2000 when the department was elevated to the level of Secretariat of State and the current department is officially created.[3] At the beginning received the name of Secretariat of State for Telecommunications and for the Information Society and depended from the Ministry of Science from 2000 to 2004 and from the Ministry of Industry since 2004 to its renovation in 2016.
In 2016, a new government reestructuration created a new ministry with competences over Energy, Tourism and Communications, being called Ministry of Energy, Tourism and Digital Agenda. With this ministry, the Secretariat of State was renamed Secretariat of State for the Information Society and Digital Agenda.
Two years later, in 2018, a change in the government provoked that the competences over telecommunications were transferred to the Ministry of Economy and the Secretariat of State was renamed Secretariat of State for Digital Progress.[4] In 2020, the position of Secretary of State for Digitization and Artificial Intelligence was created and it assumed some responsibilities. This new position also assumed the oversight for Red.es, a public company in charge of the development of programs to boost the digital economy, innovation, entrepreneurship, training for young people and professionals and support for SMEs by promoting the efficient and intensive use of Information and Communication Technologies.[5]
Under the authority of the Secretary of State there are the following departments:
| No. | Image | Name | Term of office | Ministers serving under: | Prime Minister appointed by: | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Began | Ended | Days of service | |||||
| 1º | Baudilio Tomé Muguruza | 6 May 2000 | 3 August 2002 | Anna Birulés | José María Aznar | ||
| 2º | Carlos López Blanco | 3 August 2002 | 1 May 2004 | Josep Piqué | |||
| 3º | Francisco Ros Perán | 1 May 2004 | 27 July 2010 | José Montilla Miguel Sebastián Gascón | José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero | ||
| 4º | Bernardo Lorenzo Almendros | 27 July 2010 | 10 May 2011 | Miguel Sebastián Gascón | |||
| 5º | Juan Junquera Temprano | 10 May 2011 | 31 December 2011 | Miguel Sebastián Gascón | |||
| 5º | Víctor Calvo-Sotelo | 31 December 2011 | 19 November 2016 | José Manuel Soria Luis de Guindos | Mariano Rajoy | ||
| 6º | José María Lassalle | 19 November 2016 | 19 June 2018 | Álvaro Nadal | |||
| 7º | Francisco Polo | 19 June 2018 | 15 January 2020 | Nadia Calviño | Pedro Sánchez | ||
| 8º | Roberto Sánchez Sánchez | 15 January 2020 | Incumbent | ||||