Secretary General of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo

The Secretary General of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo is the head of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (National Confederation of Labor; CNT), a Spanish confederation of anarcho-syndicalist labor unions. The position is elected by a congress or plenary session of the confederation. The position's powers are limited to technical and administrative affairs.

Since the confederation does not have fixed headquarters, the elected Secretary General's local federation becomes the confederation's central operations and a local plenary session of the local federation chooses the secretariats for other leadership positions. Together they are known as the Secretariado Permanente del Comité Confederal (Permanent Secretariat of the Confederal Committee, or SPCC). They, together with other regional federation's secretaries general, form the full Confederal Committee. The first general secretary of the CNT, chosen at its 1910 constitutional congress, was José Negre. He had been secretary general of Solidaridad Obrera, a Catalan union and precursor to the CNT. Thus Barcelona was the first headquarters.

The CNT operated clandestinely during years of repression and splintered. Sources support several timelines of CNT Secretaries General during this time.

Through the Civil War (1910–1939)
Unless specified otherwise, the Headquarters of the CNT's Secretary General and National Committee during this period were based in Barcelona.

During Franco (1939–1976)
During this period, the CNT worked clandestinely both inside Spain and in French exile. A schism among the exiles created two confederal committees with their own corresponding secretaries general.

In exile
1. After his death, Germinal Esgleas Jaume took over.

Orthodox faction
1.He resigned in December 1948.

Reunification of exiled factions
1. He resigned in January 1975.