Joaquín Ruiz-Giménez Cortés was a Spanish politician and jurist. He was minister of Education under Franco (1951-1955) but he drifted apart from the Francoist State since 1956 and, adopting a Christian Democrat position, steadily started to promote a quiet transition to democracy, especially through Cuadernos para el Diálogo magazine. He was considered one of the most relevant figures of the moderate inner opposition to Francoism. Failing to play a relevant role during the 1977 democratic elections, he was later elected as the first Spanish Ombudsman.

The Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports (MEFPD) is the department of the Government of Spain responsible for proposing and carrying out the government policy on education and vocational training, including all the teachings of the education system except university education, without prejudice to the competences of the National Sports Council in matters of sports education. Likewise, it is also the responsibility of this Department the promotion of cooperation actions and, in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the promotion of international relations in the field of non-university education.