The Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports (MEFPD) is the department of the Government of Spain responsible for designing and implementing the government policy on education and vocational training. This covers all levels of the education system—except university education—, including physical education, through the National Sports Council. Likewise, it is also responsible for promoting, in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, international relations in the field of non-university education.
Education in Spain is established as a decentralized system in which the regions have powers over the basic and secondary education—except Ceuta and Melilla—while the central government establishes the general basis of the system and it is responsible for the tertiary education. As of 2026, the government department responsible for universities is the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities. To coordinate the system, it exists the Sectoral Conference on Education that is chaired by the Education Minister and integrated by the regional ministers of education.
This is the last ministry created in the 19th century, being a split from the Ministry of Development. It was founded in March 1900 as Ministry of Public Instruction and Fine Arts and, since then, it has always had educational, cultural, sports and scientific powers, with the exception of those periods —such as the current one—in which the Ministry of Culture or the Ministry of Science has existed.
Its main headquarters have been located, since 1928, at number 34 Alcalá street, in Madrid, having previously been housed in the Palacio de Fomento between 1900 and 1928. The adjacent building, number 36, has also housed Ministry's services since 1931.
Since December 2025, the minister has been Milagros Tolón, from the Spanish Socialist Workers Party.
History
Nineteenth century For centuries, although there were royal academies, universities and some local teachers, education was dominated by the Catholic Church. However, following the approval of the Constitution of Cádiz in 1812, educational policy in Spain began to be institutionalized. This fundamental law, in its article 369, established a Directorate-General of Studies for the supervision of public education, which was under the authority of the government of the Crown.
Educational policies stagnated during the Absolutist Six-Year Period (1814–1820) but, the success of lieutenant colonel Rafael del Riego's coup on 1 January 1820, forced King Ferdinand VII to restore the 1812 Constitution and the following year the General Regulation on Public Instruction was passed by the Cortes Generales. This regulation, in addition to distinguishing between public and private education, organized education through three levels: first education (taught in primary schools and consisting of teaching reading and writing as well as elementary rules of arithmetic and catechism), second education (comprising preparatory studies to later access higher studies) and third education (covering studies that qualified to practice a particular profession). This norm also foresaw the establishment of primary schools in those areas with more than 100 residents and one secondary school per province. However, its implementation was interrupted in 1823 by the restoration of absolutism, which sidelined educational issues and subordinated them one again to the Church, and they would not regain prominence until the king's death in 1833.
The Directorate-General, which since 1825 had been known as the Inspectorate-General for Public Instruction, recovered its original name on 25 September 1834, by royal decree of Queen Regent Maria Christina. This body was part of the Ministry of the Interior since its re-establishment in 1832 and, when the Ministry of Development was created in 1847, it was transferred to it. The directorate was renamed in 1846 as Directorate-General for Public Instruction and, briefly, from 1851 to 1855, it was part of the Ministry of Grace and Justice (this ministry also had education responsibilities before 1812 and from 1823 to 1832).
The government responsibilities in the field of Education remained within the Ministry of Development for the next 45 years, through the Directorate-General of Public Instruction, which also encompassed functions related to culture. The directorate was divided into eight departments: Universities; Institutes; Primary Education; Archives, Libraries and Museums; Fine Arts and Public Works; Accounting; Civil Construction; and the Bulletin of Intellectual and Industrial Property.
Moyano Law In the final years of this period, prior to the existence of its own ministry, two important educational texts were approved, the second of which stands out as the most relevant in its field; the .
First, in August 1857 Queen Isabella II gave royal assent to Law of 17 August 1857, which established the general guidelines on which the future Law on Public Instruction had to be approved. Broadly speaking, this law maintained the public-private duality in education, with the former being the responsibility of the State and the latter subject to some State oversight. It also maintained the division of the education system into three levels, established uniformity in textbooks and the funding system for schools, the compulsory and free nature of primary public education, entry into the public teaching profession through public and competitive exams, and the mandate to define the powers of civil authorities in matters of public instruction and its inspection.
Two months later, the Public Instruction Law of 9 September 1857, popularly known as the Moyano Law —in honor of development minister Claudio Moyano, the promoter of the law—, was approved. This new rule, which expanded upon the previous one, was structured through four major sections —On studies; On educational establishments; On public teachers; On the government and administration of public instruction— and more than 300 articles that detailed and expanded the bases of the law of August 17th.
As for the specific content, the law divided primary education into two levels: elementary and upper education. This education was compulsory from six to nine years of age (with penalties for parents who failed to comply) and free for those who could not afford it. It established single-sex education; boys and girls did not have to study the same subjects but were instead assigned according to what were considered "sex-specific tasks". Special schools for the deaf and blind were also maintained. Secondary education comprised two courses of two and four years, respectively, and higher education was offered in faculties, higher schools, or professional schools.
Regarding the teaching profession, the law stipulated access and requirements for primary school teachers, secondary school teachers, normal school teachers, and professors at secondary schools, vocational schools, and universities. It also established the possibility of female teachers providing elementary education to girls.
It also regulated the different types of educational establishments, the population requirements for the existence of each, the method of financing, and included the possibility of enabling evening hours for adult education. Private schools, with private funding, were authorized and their studies were valid and equivalent to those of public schools.
Finally, the law established the structure of educational government and administration, with the Ministry of Development at the top and a Directorate-General for Public Instruction. Likewise, to advise these, it existed the Royal Council on Public Instruction (today known as the State School Council) and a nation-level inspectorate. From this central structure, the country was divided into university districts, headed by a university; each province had a Board of Public Instruction and each municipality a Board of Primary Education.
The purpose of this law was not to innovate, but to compile existing legislation and it remained in force, without relevant modifications, until the approval of the General Education Law of 1970. The longevity of this law was a source of rejoicing for its promoter, minister Moyano, who, as an elderly senator in 1887, declared before the Plenary:
1886 project The growing importance of education was reflected not only by the approval of several education laws in 1857, but also by a Royal Decree sanctioned by the queen regent, Maria Christina of Austria, on May 7, 1886, which established the division of the Ministry of Development into a Ministry of Public Instruction and of Sciences, Letters and Fine Arts, and a Ministry of Public Works, Agriculture, Industry and Trade. Despite that the decree mandated that the new ministries would be established on July 1, 1886, this did not materialize until the 1900 Budget Act.
Twentieth century
Thus, by virtue of Article 20 of the Budget Act of March 31, 1900, the Cortes authorized His Majesty's Government to reorganize the Development Ministry by dividing its powers. On April 18, 1900, Queen Regent Maria Christina issued a royal decree establishing two new departments: the Ministry of Public Instruction and Fine Arts and the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry, Trade and Public Works (from 1905 onwards this department was once again known as the Ministry of Development). As established in the decree, two were the reasons for the division: first, the Development Ministry had "vast" responsibilities since it went from managing a budget of 15 million pesetas in 1846 to one of almost 81 million pesetas in 1900, and they were "heterogeneous" thus trying to "provide the means for them to be managed promptly and successfully, and to be addressed in each branch with unity of thought and with the intensity of attention that such a delicate task demands".
Regarding the division of responsibilities, the new Ministry of Public Instruction and Fine Arts was entrusted with authority over "public and private education in all its different classes and levels, the promotion of science and literature, fine arts, archives, libraries, and museums". It also assumed responsibility for the Geographic and Statistical Institute. The Ministry of Development retained matters relating to "railways, roads, canals, ports, lighthouses and beacons; and those related to agriculture, industry, and trade". Antonio García Alix was appointed as the first minister of education in the history of Spain.
In 1901, The Count of Romanones was appointed as education minister and he incorporated to the State Budget the salary of teachers. Prior to this, these salaries were paid by local governments—which acted as intermediaries between the Crown government and the teachers—but it had provoked numerous criticisms due severe delays in payments.
During the next 30 years, the existence of an specialized ministry for education and cultural affairs led to the creation of new administrative bodies and positions, such us the Ministry's Under-Secretary to assist the ministry in its duties, the Directorate-General for Fine Arts and directorates-general for each education level, among others, as well as numerous specialized bodies of lower rank. It was also at this time that the current headquarters were built on Alcalá Street 36 in Madrid.
Education in the Second Republic In Second Republic (1936–1939), and following the division made by Miguel Fernández Cárcar, professor at the Public University of Navarra, we will divide the period into two stages: a stage of peace (1931–1936) and another of war (1936–1939).
Peace stage (1931–1936)