During the first years of democracy, the competences over this matters were attached to bodies with the rank of directorate-general or less, however, the socialist government of Felipe Gonzalez decided in 1985 to create the current Secretariat of State with the aim to get an "effective cooperation with all the peoples of the Earth",[1] a mandate collected in the preamble of the Spanish Constitution (Constitution § Preamble).

Although international cooperation for development is destined for countries around the world, due to historical and cultural ties most of this Spanish cooperation goes to Latin America and the former Spanish territories of Africa like Equatorial Guinea, Morocco or Western Sahara, and also to Asian countries such as the Philippines, also former Spanish territories.

The most significant change since its creation was in 2004, when the competencies of the foreign policy of Spain in Ibero-American were transferred to the Secretariat of State for Foreign Affairs,[2] competences that were recovered in very late 2011.

[3] In 2017 the name was extended to include the Caribbean in the denomination in order to target the objective of at-that-time Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis to impulse the relations with that geographical area.

Although they are not departments and act with autonomy, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, the Cervantes Institute and the Royal Academy of Spain in Rome depend from the Secretariat of State.