National holiday:
National Day, 12 October
Constitution:
6 December 1978, effective 29 December 1978
Legal system:
civil law system, with regional applications; has not accepted
compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: King JUAN CARLOS I (since 22 November 1975); Heir
Apparent Prince FELIPE, son of the monarch, born 30 January 1968
head of government: President of the Government Jose Luis RODRIGUEZ
ZAPATERO (since 17 April 2004); First Vice President (and Minister
of the Presidency) Maria Teresa FERNANDEZ DE LA VEGA(since 18 April
2004) and Second Vice President (and Minister of Economy and
Finance) Pedro SOLBES (since 18 April 2004)
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, but its recommendations are
non-binding
election results: Jose Luis RODRIGUEZ ZAPATERO (PSOE) elected
president; percent of National Assembly vote - 52.29%
elections: the monarch is hereditary; following legislative
elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the
majority coalition is usually proposed president by the monarch and
elected by the National Assembly; election last held 14 March 2004
(next to be held NA March 2008); vice presidents appointed by the
monarch on the proposal of the president
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)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - PP 49%, PSOE
38.9%, Entesa Catalona de Progress 5.7%, CiU 1.99%, PNV 2.8%, CC
1.4%; seats by party - PP 102, PSOE 81, Entesa Catalona de Progress
12, CiU 4, PNV 6, CC 3; Congress of Deputies - percent of vote by
party - PSOE 43.3%, PP 37.8%, CiU 3.2%, ERC 2.5%, PNV 1.6%, IU 3.2%,
CC 0.9%; seats by party - PSOE 164, PP 148, CiU 10, ERC 8, PNV 7, IU
2, CC 3, other 8
elections: Senate - last held 14 March 2004 (next to be held March
2008); Congress of Deputies - last held 14 March 2004 (next to be
held March 2008)
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court or Tribunal Supremo
Political parties and leaders:
Basque Nationalist Party or PNV [Josu Jon IMAZ]; Canarian Coalition
or CC (a coalition of five parties) [Paulino RIVERO Baute];
Convergence and Union or CiU [Artur MAS i Gavarro] (a coalition of
the Democratic Convergence of Catalonia or CDC [Artur MAS i Gavarro]
and the Democratic Union of Catalonia or UDC [Josep Antoni DURAN y
LLEIDA]); Entesa Catalonia de Progress (a Senate coalition grouping
four Catalan parties - PSC, ERC, ICV, EUA) [leader NA]; Galician
Nationalist Bloc or BNG [Anxo Manuel QUINTANA]; Party of
Independents from Lanzarote or PIL [Dimas MARTIN Martin]; Popular
Party or PP [Mariano RAJOY]; Republican Left of Catalonia or ERC
[Josep-Lluis CAROD-ROVIRA]; 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]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
business and landowning interests; Catholic Church; free labor
unions (authorized in April 1977); Socialist General Union of
Workers or UGT and the smaller independent Workers Syndical Union or
USO; university students; Workers Confederation or CC.OO; Nunca Mas
(Galician for "Never Again"; formed in response to the oil tanker
Prestige oil spill)
International organization participation:
AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BCIE, BIS, CE, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU,
ESA, EU, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA,
IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM
(observer), ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINUSTAH, MONUC, NATO,
NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, ONUB, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA,
UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIK, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU,
WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC