An electromagnetic relay which includes a base, fixed contact terminals having fixed contacts, and movable contact terminals supporting intermediate portions of movable contact arms each provided, at opposite ends there­of, with movable contacts confronting the fixed contacts, with the fixed contact terminals and the movable contact terminals being forced into the base to be fixed in it, an electromagnet block in which a coil is wound, through a spool, onto a core generally in an inverted U-shape provided with a permanent magnet at its central portion, and an armature block attracted and pivotally held by the permanent magnet so that opposite ends of the armature block confront pole face of the core. The electromagnet block is assembled above the movable contact arms, so as to allow the contacts to be closed through depression of the movable contact arms by the armature block.