Spain » Politics

Political system of Spain is a bit different from other democracies of the world. It is a Monarchy system moving side by side with parliamentary democracy. According to the constitution of 1978, Spain is a Parliamentary Monarchy. The head of the state is the Monarch and the President (the president of the government is equals to Prime Minister) of the state is the Head of Government. According to the Art.56 of the Spanish Constitution of 1978;

“The King is the Head of State and Supreme Commander in Chief of the armed forces, the symbol of its unity and permanence. He arbitrates and moderates the regular working of the institutions, assumes the highest representation of the Spanish State in international relations, especially with those nations belonging to the same historic community, and performs the functions expressly conferred on him by the Constitution and the law” There are two chambers of parliament and all the judicial power is vested in these chambers. The judiciary system of Spain is independent.  

Historical Government

Spain remained the seat of internal dictatorship, colonization and Monarchy for centuries. After the weakening of Muslim rule in 16th century, the Monarchy took its roots in Spain. This was the time when different states of Spain, which have been operating autonomously earlier, were politically and economically unified to make United Kingdom of Spain. The unification led to impart power and stability to Spain under the reign of Charles V and Philip II. The Spain emerged as one of the distinct states of Europe and started to colonize many neighboring regions, one of them being Morocco.

Spanish-American war which started in 1898 became the origin of great political changes in the history of Spain. Post-Spanish war events became the core cause of the dictatorship by General Franco (1939) which became the fate of Spanish Political History until the year 1975. This long era of dictatorship proved to be cause of isolation of Spain from the international front, and threw it back to the dark ages.

Recent Status

In 1975, King Juan Carlos took the reign of the country, as appointed by the late dictator, General Franco. King Juan took the task to develop Spain into a parliamentary monarchy. The constitution was implemented in 1978. According to the constitution of 1978, Spain is a Parliamentary Monarchy; with the king as the head of state and Prime minister as the head of Government.

In 1981, not long after the implementation of the constitution in Spain, the military once again tried to regain the authority in the country, but fortunately this effort was nipped in the bud. The first General elections were arranged in 1982. Felipe Gonzalez, of the socialist party achieved victory with a grand majority. In the time period which followed, Spain took several major steps towards bringing political stability in the country and, extended a hand of friendship towards the international community, specially the European countries. It became members of NATO and European Union in the years to follow.

In march, 2004, once again the socialist party won the largest general elections of the Spain. Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero became the new Prime Minister, he is still the Prime Minister and his term will expire in the year 2012. The head of state is King Juan Carlos 1.