Captain general of the Navy
Captain general of the Navy is a five-star naval officer rank and the highest rank of the Spanish Navy. The five-star NATO rank code is OF-10, the routine honorary appointments formally ceased in 1999. The rank of captain general of the Navy is equivalent to an admiral of the fleet in many nations such as the United Kingdom or the United States, a captain general of the Spanish Army ' or an Air captain general in the Spanish Air Force '.
A peculiar usage of the term captain general arose in the Spanish Navy of the 16th century. A capitán-general was appointed by the king as the leader of a fleet, with full jurisdictional powers. The fleet second-in-command was the 'almirante', an officer appointed by the capitan-general and responsible for the seaworthiness of the squadron. One captain-general that sailed under the Spanish flag that is now well known was Ferdinand Magellan, leader of the first fleet to sail around the world.
Since King Alfonso XII's reign, the monarchs used captain general of the Navy rank and insignia as Commander-in-chief. Briefly abolished by the Second Spanish Republic, it was restored in 1938 during the regime of Francisco Franco, an Army general. Since 19th century honorary promotions of retired admirals to this rank were also made, such as the prime ministers Juan Bautista Aznar-Cabañas and Luis Carrero Blanco, the only posthumous promotion. Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona, claimant to the Spanish throne and father of King Juan Carlos, was also made honorary captain general of the Spanish Navy in 1992.
| Date of promotion | Image | Name | Dead/Annulled | Notes |
| 1750 | Juan José Navarro de Viana y Búfalo | † | 1st general captain of the Navy | |
| 1783 | Luis de Córdova y Córdova | † | 2nd general captain of the Navy | |
| 1789 | Pedro Fitz-James Stuart y Colón de Portugal | † | 3rd general captain of the Navy | |
| 1792 | Antonio Valdés y Fernández Bazán | † |
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| 1794 | Francisco Javier Everardo y Tilly | † | 5th general captain of the Navy | |
| 1796 | Antonio González de Arce y Ulloa | † | 6th general captain of the Navy | |
| 1798 | Manuel Antonio Flórez y Maldonado | † | 7th general captain of the Navy | |
| 1798 | Juan Cayetano de Lángara y Huarte | † | 8th general captain of the Navy | |
| 1802 | José Solano y Bote | † | 9th general captain of the Navy | |
| 1805 | Francisco de Borja y Poyo | † | 10th general captain of the Navy | |
| 1805 | Francisco Gil de Taboada y Lemos | † 1809 | 11th general captain of the Navy | |
| Federico Carlos Gravina y Nápoles | † | 12th general captain of the Navy | ||
| Félix Ignacio de Tejada y Suárez de Lara | † | 13th general captain of the Navy | ||
| Ignacio Maria de Álava y Sáenz de Navarrete | † | 14th general captain of the Navy | ||
| Juan María de Villavicencio y de la Serna | † | 15th general captain of the Navy | ||
| Juan Ruiz de Apodaca y Eliza | † | 16th general captain of the Navy | ||
| Cayetano Valdés y Flores | † | 17th general captain of the Navy | ||
| Francisco Javier de Uriarte y Borja | † | 18th general captain of the Navy | ||
| José Sartorio y Terol | † | 19th general captain of the Navy | ||
| Ramón Lorenzo Romay y Jiménez-Cisneros | † | |||
| José Rodríguez-Arias y Alvárez-Campana | † | 21st general captain of the Navy | ||
| Francisco Javier de Ulloa y Ramírez de Laredo | † | |||
| Dionisio Capaz y Rendón | † | |||
| Francisco Armero y Fernández de Peñaranda | † |
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| Casimiro Vigodet y Garnica | † 2 January 1872 | |||
| Juan José Martínez de Espinosa y Tacón | † | |||
| Alfonso de Borbón y Borbón | † | |||
| Joaquín Gutiérrez de Rubalcaba y Casal | † | |||
| Luis Hernández-Pinzón y Álvarez de Vides | † | Ad honorem | ||
| Guillermo Chacón y Maldonado | † | |||
| Carlos Valcárcel y Ussel de Gimbarda | † | |||
| Alfonso de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena |
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| José María Beranger y Ruiz de Apodaca | † | |||
| Juan Bautista Viniegra y Mendoza | † |
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| José Pidal y Rebollo | † | |||
| José María Chacón y Pery | † | |||
| Ricardo Fernández de la Puente y Patrón | † | |||
| Juan Bautista Aznar y Cabañas | † | |||
| Francisco Franco y Bahamonde | † | |||
| Luis Carrero y Blanco | Posthumous promotion | |||
| Juan Carlos de Borbón y Borbón | Active until | |||
| Juan de Borbón y Battenberg | † | |||
| Felipe de Borbón y Grecia | Present |