head of government: President of the Government Jose Maria AZNAR Lopez (since 5 May 1996); First Vice President Juan Jose LUCAS (since 28 February 2000) and Second Vice President (and Minister of Economy) Rodrigo RATO Figaredo (since 5 May 1996)
cabinet: Council of Ministers designated by the president
note: there is also a Council of State that is the supreme consultative organ of the government
elections: the monarch is hereditary; president proposed by the monarch and elected by the National Assembly following legislative elections; election last held 12 March 2000 (next to be held NA March 2004); vice presidents appointed by the monarch on proposal of the president
election results: Jose Maria AZNAR Lopez (PP) elected president; percent of National Assembly vote - 44%
Legislative branch: bicameral; General Courts or National Assembly or Las Cortes Generales consists of the Senate or Senado (259 seats - 208 members directly elected by popular vote and the other 51 appointed by the regional legislatures to serve four-year terms) and the Congress of Deputies or Congreso de los Diputados (350 seats; members are elected by popular vote on block lists by proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 12 March 2000 (next to be held NA March 2004); Congress of Deputies - last held 12 March 2000 (next to be held NA March 2004)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PP 127, PSOE 61, CiU 8, PNV 6, CC 5, PIL 1; Congress of Deputies - percent of vote by party - PP 44.5%, PSOE 34%, CiU 4.2%, IU 5.4%, PNV 1.5%, CC 1%, BNG 1.3%; seats by party - PP 183, PSOE 125, CiU 15, IU 8, PNV 7, CC 4, BNG 3, other 5
Judicial branch: Supreme Court or Tribunal Supremo
Political parties and leaders: Basque Nationalist Party or PNV
[Xabier ARZALLUS Antia]; Canarian Coalition or CC (a coalition of
five parties) [Paulino RIVERO]; Convergence and Union or CiU [Jordi
PUJOL i Soley, secretary general] (a coalition of the Democratic
Convergence of Catalonia or CDC [Jordi PUJOL i Soley] and the
Democratic Union of Catalonia or UDC [Josep Antoni DURAN y LLEIDA]);
Galician Nationalist Bloc or BNG [Xose Manuel BEIRAS]; Party of
Independents from Lanzarote or PIL [Dimas MARTIN Martin]; Popular
Party or PP [Jose Maria AZNAR Lopez]; Spanish Socialist Workers
Party or PSOE [Jose Luis Rodriguez ZAPATERO]; United Left or IU (a
coalition of parties including the PCE and other small parties)
[Gaspar LLAMAZARES]