Spain is a parliamentary monarchy (art. 1.3). Voters elect the Cortes; the Congress invests the Prime
Minister and can remove him by a motion of censure. Power is shared with seventeen autonomous
communities, two autonomous cities, fifty provinces and more than eight thousand municipalities.
Title II · The Crown
The King acts on advice.
Head of State
The King is head of state, the symbol of its unity, and arbitrates and moderates the regular working of the institutions (art. 56.1).
The King's person is inviolable and not accountable; every act must be countersigned (refrendo) by the Prime Minister or a minister, who answers for it. The proposal and appointment of the Prime Minister, and a dissolution under art. 99, are countersigned by the President of the Congress (arts. 56.3, 64).
He sanctions and promulgates laws, calls and dissolves the Cortes, calls elections and referendums, proposes the candidate for Prime Minister and appoints the government, and holds supreme command of the armed forces (art. 62).
The Crown is hereditary among the successors of Juan Carlos I, by primogeniture; within the same degree, the man is preferred to the woman (art. 57.1).
The Government directs domestic and foreign policy, the civil and military administration and the
defence of the State (art. 97). It is the President (Prime Minister), the vice-presidents and the
ministers (art. 98).
After each election the King, having consulted the parties and through the President of the
Congress, proposes a candidate. The candidate needs an absolute majority of the Congress, or a simple
majority in a second vote 48 hours later. If no one is invested within two months of the first vote,
the Cortes are dissolved (art. 99). Try the investiture builder →
A government ceases after an election, a lost confidence vote, or its President's resignation or
death, and stays on in a caretaker role, en funciones, until the next one takes office
(art. 101). The Congress can replace it at any time with a constructive motion of censure that names
an alternative (art. 113).
President of the GovernmentPedro SánchezSince 2 June 2018 · PSOE
First Vice-President · EconomyCarlos CuerpoSince 27 March 2026
Second Vice-President · LabourYolanda DíazSince 12 July 2021 · Sumar
Photos: Pedro Sánchez
— Pool Moncloa/ Carlos Spottorno de las Morenas, Attribution · Carlos Cuerpo
— Pool Moncloa/Fernando Calvo, Attribution · Yolanda Díaz
— Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU 2024 from Belgium, CC BY 2.0 .
Via Wikimedia Commons.
Elected for four years by proportional representation in each province. It invests and censures the
Government and has the final word on laws. At dissolution on 6 October 2026:
Plurinational Sumar Group 26
Socialist Group 121
Republican Group 7
EH Bildu Group 6
Basque Group (EAJ-PNV) 5
Junts per Catalunya Group 7
Mixed Group 9
Popular Group 137
Vox Group 32
176for an absolute majority
Art. 69 · The Senate
The Senate: provinces, islands, regions.
The Senate is the chamber of territorial representation. Each province elects four senators; Gran
Canaria, Mallorca and Tenerife three each; Ibiza, Formentera, Menorca, Fuerteventura, La Gomera, El
Hierro, Lanzarote and La Palma one each; Ceuta and Melilla two each: 209 from 29 November 2026. Each
regional parliament also appoints one senator plus one per million inhabitants (art. 69.5); 58 were
appointed in the last legislature.
Directly elected senators, 2023 (208). The limited vote gives the leading party three of four seats
in each province, so the largest party's share of senators tends to exceed its share of the vote: in
2023 the PP won 120 of 208.
Each voter may mark up to three of the Senate candidates. If everyone votes for their party's three
candidates, the leading party wins three seats and the runner-up one, however close the race.
Arts. 87–91
How a bill becomes law.
Legislative procedure
The Congress has the last word
The Senate can delay and amend, but the Congress can override it.
Step 1 of 5 · Government, Congress, Senate, regions, citizens
Initiative
The Government sends bills approved in the Council of Ministers; the chambers and regional assemblies can propose laws; a popular initiative needs at least 500,000 signatures and cannot touch organic laws, tax or international matters (arts. 87–88).
Step 2 of 5 · Congress of Deputies
Congress
Every bill starts in the Congress, even those taken into consideration by the Senate (art. 89.2). Organic laws, such as the electoral law, need an absolute majority of 176 in a final vote on the whole text (art. 81).
Step 3 of 5 · Senate
Senate
The Senate has two months (20 days if urgent) to amend the text or veto it; a veto needs an absolute majority of senators (art. 90.2–3).
Step 4 of 5 · Congress of Deputies
Back to the Congress
The Congress overrides a veto by an absolute majority at once, or by a simple majority after two months, and accepts or rejects Senate amendments by simple majority (art. 90.2).
Step 5 of 5 · The King
Royal sanction
The King sanctions laws within fifteen days, promulgates them and orders their publication in the BOE (art. 91).
Titles VI and IX · The courts
Judges chosen by the other powers.
Constitutional Court
Twelve judges appointed by the King for nine years, renewed by thirds every three years: four proposed by the Congress and four by the Senate, each by a three-fifths majority, two by the Government and two by the General Council of the Judiciary (art. 159). It rules on laws, appeals for protection of rights and conflicts between the State and the regions.
Governs the judiciary: appointments, promotions and discipline. The President of the Supreme Court presides over twenty members serving five years: twelve chosen among judges, four proposed by the Congress and four by the Senate by three-fifths majorities (art. 122).
The Defensor del Pueblo is a high commissioner of the Cortes, appointed by them to defend fundamental rights and supervise the administration (art. 54).
The State is organised into municipalities, provinces and autonomous communities, each with autonomy
over its own affairs (art. 137). Each community has a Statute of Autonomy, an elected parliament and a
president it invests.
Art. 143: the ordinary route
Initiative by the provincial councils and two-thirds of the municipalities representing a majority of voters in each province; full powers only after five years.
Art. 151: the fast route
Three-quarters of the municipalities and a referendum backed by an absolute majority of voters in each province; the Statute is drafted by the region's deputies and senators.
Art. 155: enforcement
If a community breaks its constitutional duties or gravely harms the general interest, the Government may, after a warning and with an absolute majority of the Senate, take the measures needed to force compliance. It was first used for Catalonia in October 2017.
Councillors are elected by residents; mayors are chosen by the councillors or by the residents (art. 140). The next municipal elections are on 23 May 2027. INE counts 8,132 municipalities.
Provinces
Fifty provinces group the municipalities. They are run by provincial councils (diputaciones), whose members are chosen by and from the elected councillors (LOREG arts. 204–206), and they are the constituencies for the Cortes (art. 141).
Islands
In the Balearic and Canary archipelagos each island also has its own administration, the Consell or Cabildo, and island constituencies elect senators (arts. 69.3, 141.4).
President of the Government Pedro Sánchez Since 2 June 2018 · PSOE 
First Vice-President · Economy Carlos Cuerpo Since 27 March 2026 
Second Vice-President · Labour Yolanda Díaz Since 12 July 2021 · Sumar 
Juanma Moreno (PP)
Jorge Azcón (PP)
Adrián Barbón (PSOE)
Marga Prohens (PP)
Fernando Clavijo (CC)
María José Sáenz de Buruaga (PP)
Alfonso Fernández Mañueco (PP)
Emiliano García-Page (PSOE)
Salvador Illa (PSOE)
Juanfran Pérez Llorca (PP)
María Guardiola (PP)
Alfonso Rueda (PP)
Isabel Díaz Ayuso (PP)
María Chivite (PSOE)
Imanol Pradales (PNV)
Gonzalo Capellán (PP)
Juan Jesús Vivas (PP)
Juan José Imbroda (PP)