Constitution: 6 December 1978, effective 29 December 1978
Legal system: civil law system, with regional applications; does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: King JUAN CARLOS I (since 22 November 1975)
head of government: Prime Minister Felipe GONZALEZ Marquez (since 2
December 1982); Deputy Prime Minister Narcis SERRA y Serra (since 13
March 1991)
cabinet: Council of Ministers; designated by the prime minister
Council of State: is the supreme consultative organ of the government
Legislative branch: bicameral The General Courts or National Assembly
(Las Cortes Generales)
Senate (Senado): elections last held 6 June 1993 (next to be held by
June 1997); results - percent of vote by party NA; seats - (255 total)
PSOE 117, PP 107, CiU 15, PNV 5, IU 2, other 9
Congress of Deputies (Congreso de los Diputados): elections last held
6 June 1993 (next to be held by June 1997); results - percent of vote
by party NA; seats - (350 total) PSOE 159, PP 141, IU 18, CiU 17, PNV
5, CC 4, HB 2, other 4
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo)
Political parties and leaders:
principal national parties, from right to left: Popular Party (PP),
Jose Maria AZNAR Lopez; Democratic Social Center (CDS), Rafael CALVO
Ortega; Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), Felipe GONZALEZ
Marquez, secretary general; Socialist Democracy Party (DS), Ricardo
GARCIA Damborenea; Spanish Communist Party (PCE), Julio ANGUITA
Gonzalez; United Left (IU - a coalition of parties including the PCE,
a branch of the PSOE, and other small parties), Julio ANGUITA Gonzalez
chief regional parties: Convergence and Union (CiU), Miquel ROCA i
Junyent, secretary general; Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), Xabier
ARZALLUS Antia and Jose Antonio ARDANZA; Basque United People (HB),
Jon IDIGORAS Guerricabeitia and Inaki ESNAOLA; Canarian Coalition
(CC), a coalition of five parties
Other political or pressure groups: on the extreme left, the Basque
Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) and the First of October Antifascist
Resistance Group (GRAPO) use terrorism to oppose the government; free
labor unions (authorized in April 1977) include the
Communist-dominated Workers Commissions (CCOO); the Socialist General
Union of Workers (UGT), and the smaller independent Workers Syndical
Union (USO); business and landowning interests; the Catholic Church;
Opus Dei; university students
Member of: AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE,
CERN, EBRD, EC, ECE, ECLAC, EIB, ESA, FAO, G- 8, GATT, IADB, IAEA,
IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF,
IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAIA
(observer), MTCR, NACC, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer),
OECD, ONUSAL, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIH,
UNOMOZ, UNPROFOR, UNU, UPU, WCL, WEU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC