[4] In this date, the former Secretariat of State and of the Dispatch of General Development of the Realm (created in 1812 and re-established in 1832[5]) had a huge scope of competences and included areas of government policy that, over the years, would be splintered in the Ministries of Education, Culture, Agriculture, Development, Health, Industry and Commerce.

These last three areas of activity were attributed to the new Ministry of National Economy in 1928, maintaining public works, railways, mines, forestry, fishing and hunting.

After the advent of the Second Republic, and by virtue of the Decree of 16 December 1931, the name of the Ministry of Public Works was adopted.

Between July 1977 and March 1991, the competences of the original department remained divided in two: On the one hand, the Ministry of Public Works and Urbanism (with the incorporation of the competences in matter of housing and the Directorate-General for Territorial Action and Environment, coming from Office of the Prime Minister) and on the other hand, the Ministry of Transport and Communications (since 1981, also Tourism).

It was not until the third government of Felipe González when the merger occurred again (except for the Tourism area), by Royal Decree 576/1991, of 21 April, with Josep Borrell as minister of the Department (who in 1993 incorporated to its denomination the term 'Environment').