The Ministry of Overseas (Ministerio de Ultramar) was the ministerial department in charge of the direction of the Spanish colonies.

History

The department was created in 1863. Until that moment the administration of the colonies was in charge of the Ministry of the Navy. By Royal Decree of May 20, 1863 there was created the department of Overseas in charge of the administration of the Spanish colonies. It was kept until it was suppressed by means of Royal Decree of April 20, 1899 due to the lack of attributions after the colonial losses as consequence of the Spanish–American War of 1898.

List of Ministers

Period	Beginning	End	Name	Government
Reign of Isabella II Isabella II of Spain Isabella II was the only female monarch of Spain in modern times. She came to the throne as an infant, but her succession was disputed by the Carlists, who refused to recognise a female sovereign, leading to the Carlist Wars. After a troubled reign, she was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of... (1833-1868)
	21 May of 1863	18 July of 1863	José Gutiérrez de la Concha	Manuel Pando Fernández of Pinedo
	18 July of 1863	1 August of 1863	Manuel Moreno López
	1 August of 1863	6 August of 1863	José Gutiérrez de la Concha
	6 August of 1863	29 November of 1863	Francisco Permanyer Tuyets
	29 November of 1863	17 January of 1864	José Gutiérrez de la Concha
	17 January of 1864	1 March of 1864	Alejandro de Castro Casal	Lorenzo Arrazola
	1 March of 1864	16 September of 1864	Diego López Ballesteros	Alejandro Mon y Menéndez Alejandro Mon y Menéndez Alejandro Mon y Menéndez was a Spanish politician and jurist who served as Prime Minister of Spain in 1864, during the reign of Queen Isabella II.-Early life:...
	16 September of 1864	21 June of 1865	Manuel Seijas Lozano	Ramón María Narváez
	21 June of 1865	10 July of 1866	Antonio Cánovas del Castillo Antonio Cánovas del Castillo Antonio Cánovas del Castillo was a Spanish politician and historian known principally for his role in supporting the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy to the Spanish throne and for his death at the hands of an anarchist assassin, Michele Angiolillo.-Early career:Born in Málaga as the son of...	Leopoldo O'Donnell
	10 July of 1866	27 October of 1867	Alejandro de Castro Casal	Ramón María Narváez
	27 October of 1867	23 April of 1868	Carlos Marfori
	23 April of 1868	15 June of 1868	Carlos Marfori	Luis González Bravo
	15 June of 1868	19 September of 1868	Tomás Rodríguez Rubí
Junta Revolucionaria Interina (1868-1871)
	8 October of 1868	18 June of 1869	Adelardo López de Ayala	Pascual Madoz Ibáñez Pascual Madoz Pascual Madoz , Spanish politician, statistician, was born at Pamplona.In early life he was settled in Barcelona, as a writer and journalist. He envisioned the construction of the Vielha tunnel. He joined the Progresista party formed during the First Carlist War, 1833-40... Joaquín Aguirre de la Peña Francisco Serrano
	18 June of 1869	6 August of 1869	Juan Bautista Topete Juan Bautista Topete Juan Bautista Topete y Carballo , Spanish naval commander and politician, was born in San Andrés Tuxtla, Mexico.His father and grandfather were also Spanish admirals...	Juan Prim
	6 August of 1869	2 April of 1870	Manuel Becerra y Bermúdez
	2 April of 1870	27 December of 1870	Segismundo Moret Prendergast
	27 December of 1870	4 January of 1871	Adelardo López de Ayala	Juan Bautista Topete
Reign of Amadeo I Amadeo I of Spain Amadeo I was the only King of Spain from the House of Savoy... (1871-1873)
	4 January of 1871	24 July of 1871	Adelardo López of Ayala	Francisco Serrano
	24 July of 1871	5 October of 1871	Tomás Mosquera	Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla was a Spanish politician. He served as prime minister of Spain for a little over ten weeks in the summer of 1871, and again for eight months between June 1872 and February 1873....
	5 October of 1871	21 December of 1871	Víctor Balaguer Victor Balaguer Víctor Balaguer , Catalan Spanish politician and author, was born at Barcelona on 11 December 1824, and was educated at the university of his native city....	José Malcampo
	21 December of 1871	20 January of 1872	Juan Bautista Topete Juan Bautista Topete Juan Bautista Topete y Carballo , Spanish naval commander and politician, was born in San Andrés Tuxtla, Mexico.His father and grandfather were also Spanish admirals...	Práxedes Mateo Sagasta Práxedes Mateo Sagasta Práxedes Mariano Mateo Sagasta y Escolar was a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister on eight occasions between 1870 and 1902—always in charge of the Liberal Party—as part of the turno pacifico, alternating with the Liberal-Conservative leader Antonio Cánovas...
	20 January of 1872	26 May of 1872	Cristóbal Martín de Herrera Cristóbal Martín de Herrera Cristóbal Martín de Herrera was a Spanish politician who served as Ministry of Public Works in the reign of Alfonso XII....
	26 May of 1872	13 June of 1872	Adelardo López de Ayala	Francisco Serrano
	13 June of 1872	21 December of 1872	Eduardo Gasset y Artime	Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla was a Spanish politician. He served as prime minister of Spain for a little over ten weeks in the summer of 1871, and again for eight months between June 1872 and February 1873....
	21 December of 1872	12 February of 1873	Tomás Mosquera
First Spanish Republic First Spanish Republic The First Spanish Republic was the political regime that existed in Spain between the parliamentary proclamation on 11 February 1873 and 29 December 1874 when General Arsenio Martínez-Campos's pronunciamento marked the beginning of the Bourbon Restoration in Spain... (1873-1874)
	12 February of 1873	24 February of 1873	Nicolás Salmerón	Estanislao Figueras Estanislao Figueras Estanislao Figueras y de Moragas was a Spanish politician who served as the first President of the First Spanish Republic from 12 February to 11 June 1873).Figueras was born at Barcelona....
	24 February of 1873	11 June of 1873	José Cristóbal Sorní y Grau
	11 June of 1873	13 June of 1873	José Cristóbal Sorní y Grau	Francisco Pi i Margall
	13 June of 1873	19 July of 1873	Francisco Suñer
	19 July of 1873	4 September of 1873	Eduardo Palanca Asensi	Nicolás Salmerón
	4 September of 1873	3 January of 1874	Santiago Soler	Emilio Castelar
	3 January of 1874	13 May of 1874	Tomás Mosquera	Francisco Serrano Juan Zavala de la Puente
	13 May of 1874	3 September of 1874	Antonio Romero Ortiz	Juan Zavala de la Puente
	3 September of 1874	31 December of 1874	Antonio Romero Ortiz	Práxedes Mateo Sagasta Práxedes Mateo Sagasta Práxedes Mariano Mateo Sagasta y Escolar was a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister on eight occasions between 1870 and 1902—always in charge of the Liberal Party—as part of the turno pacifico, alternating with the Liberal-Conservative leader Antonio Cánovas...
Reign of Alfonso XII (1874-1885)	31 December of 1874	13 February of 1875	Adelardo López of Ayala	Antonio Cánovas ofl Castillo
	13 February of 1875	2 December of 1875	Adelardo López de Ayala
	2 December of 1879	15 January of 1877	Adelardo López of Ayala
	15 January of 1877	8 March of 1879	Cristóbal Martín de Herrera Cristóbal Martín de Herrera Cristóbal Martín de Herrera was a Spanish politician who served as Ministry of Public Works in the reign of Alfonso XII....
	8 March of 1879	9 December of 1879	Salvador Albacete	Arsenio Martínez-Campos
	9 December of 1879	23 March of 1880	José Elduayen Gorriti	Antonio Cánovas del Castillo Antonio Cánovas del Castillo Antonio Cánovas del Castillo was a Spanish politician and historian known principally for his role in supporting the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy to the Spanish throne and for his death at the hands of an anarchist assassin, Michele Angiolillo.-Early career:Born in Málaga as the son of...
	23 March of 1880	8 February of 1881	Cayetano Sánchez Bustillo
	8 February of 1881	9 October of 1883	Fernando León y Castillo Fernando León y Castillo Fernando León y Castillo was a Spanish politician and a diplomat, he decided on an intervention of Spain and North Africa....	Práxedes Mateo Sagasta Práxedes Mateo Sagasta Práxedes Mariano Mateo Sagasta y Escolar was a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister on eight occasions between 1870 and 1902—always in charge of the Liberal Party—as part of the turno pacifico, alternating with the Liberal-Conservative leader Antonio Cánovas...
	9 October of 1883	13 October of 1883	Gaspar Núñez de Arce Gaspar Núñez de Arce Gaspar Núñez de Arce was a Spanish poet, dramatist and statesman.He was born at Valladolid, where he was educated for the priesthood. He had no vocation for the ecclesiastical state, plunged into literature, and produced a play entitled Amor y Orgullo which was acted at Toledo in 1849...
	13 October of 1883	18 January of 1884	Estanislao Suárez Inclán	José Posada
	18 January of 1884	27 November of 1885	Manuel Aguirre de Tejada Manuel Aguirre de Tejada Manuel Aguirre de Tejada was a Spanish politician and lawyer.He was Foreign Minister during the reign of Alfonso XII, and Minister of Justice during the regency of Maria Christina of Austria....	Antonio Cánovas del Castillo Antonio Cánovas del Castillo Antonio Cánovas del Castillo was a Spanish politician and historian known principally for his role in supporting the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy to the Spanish throne and for his death at the hands of an anarchist assassin, Michele Angiolillo.-Early career:Born in Málaga as the son of...
Regency of Maria Christina of Austria Maria Christina of Austria Maria Christina of Austria was Queen consort of Spain as the second wife of King Alfonso XII of Spain... (1885-1902)	27 November of 1885	10 October of 1886	Germán Gamazo Calvo	Práxedes Mateo Sagasta Práxedes Mateo Sagasta Práxedes Mariano Mateo Sagasta y Escolar was a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister on eight occasions between 1870 and 1902—always in charge of the Liberal Party—as part of the turno pacifico, alternating with the Liberal-Conservative leader Antonio Cánovas...
	12 November of 1887	14 June of 1888	Víctor Balaguer Victor Balaguer Víctor Balaguer , Catalan Spanish politician and author, was born at Barcelona on 11 December 1824, and was educated at the university of his native city....
	14 June of 1888	11 December of 1888	Trinitario Ruiz Capdepón
	11 December of 1888	21 January of 1890	Manuel Becerra y Bermúdez
	21 January of 1890	5 July of 1890	Manuel Becerra y Bermúdez
	5 July of 1890	23 November of 1891	Antonio María Fabié	Antonio Cánovas del Castillo Antonio Cánovas del Castillo Antonio Cánovas del Castillo was a Spanish politician and historian known principally for his role in supporting the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy to the Spanish throne and for his death at the hands of an anarchist assassin, Michele Angiolillo.-Early career:Born in Málaga as the son of...
	23 November of 1891	11 December of 1892	Francisco Romero Robledo
	11 December of 1892	12 March of 1894	Antonio Maura Montaner Antonio Maura Montaner Antonio Maura y Montaner was Prime Minister of Spain on five separate occasions: 5 December 1903-16 December 1904, 25 January 1907-21 October 1909, 22 March 1918-9 November 1918, 14 April 1919-20 July 1919, and 13 August 1921-8 March 1922....	Práxedes Mateo Sagasta Práxedes Mateo Sagasta Práxedes Mariano Mateo Sagasta y Escolar was a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister on eight occasions between 1870 and 1902—always in charge of the Liberal Party—as part of the turno pacifico, alternating with the Liberal-Conservative leader Antonio Cánovas...
	12 March of 1894	4 November of 1894	Manuel Becerra y Bermúdez
	4 November of 1894	23 March of 1895	Buenaventura Abarzuza Ferrer
	23 March of 1895	8 August of 1897	Tomás Castellano y Villarroya	Antonio Cánovas del Castillo Antonio Cánovas del Castillo Antonio Cánovas del Castillo was a Spanish politician and historian known principally for his role in supporting the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy to the Spanish throne and for his death at the hands of an anarchist assassin, Michele Angiolillo.-Early career:Born in Málaga as the son of...
	8 August of 1897	4 October of 1897	Tomás Castellano y Villarroya	Marcelo Azcárraga
	4 October of 1897	18 May of 1898	Segismundo Moret y Prendergast	Práxedes Mateo Sagasta Práxedes Mateo Sagasta Práxedes Mariano Mateo Sagasta y Escolar was a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister on eight occasions between 1870 and 1902—always in charge of the Liberal Party—as part of the turno pacifico, alternating with the Liberal-Conservative leader Antonio Cánovas...
	18 May of 1898	7 March of 1899	Vicente Romero Girón
	7 March of 1899	20 April of 1899	Raimundo Fernández Villaverof	Francisco Silvela