Politics
Posted on 7 Jun 2010
Last modified on 7 Jun 2010
Spain’s political system is based on a constitutional hereditary monarchy. King Don Juan Carlos is the Head of State and the Royal House is the agency under his direct supervision, that participates in all activities arising from their role as such. For the Spanish people, the monarchy is a institutional and democratic guarantee.
The King has strengthened in recent years his image as a open and accessible leader, with the perfect balance required to maintain protocol behavior while denotes simplicity. There is currently no Royal Court, and the King Don Juan Carlos is recognized as a hard worker who has done much for the reputation of the Royal Family both at home and around the world. During his tenure, the Royal Family has greatly strengthened relationship with the people, and his modern way of his regency has positioned him to lead this current as one of the first worldwide.
His Majesty also holds the position of Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. Also, in the Spanish political system is a legislative power, judicial power, and an executive, the latter by the Prime Minister, elected by the Congress of Deputies, following a proposal of the monarch.
From since 17 April 2004, the office of Prime Minister is occupied by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. The term of office is four years, and during that time he is assisted in his functions by the Council of Ministers. The President is who, as executive authority, with prior approval of the King, proposes minister candidates for each activity. He also heads the Defence of State, Civil and Military Administration and the Interior and Foreign Policy.
The legislature (bicameral Parliament since 1977) consists in the Congress of Deputies with 350 members, who are elected for four years by universal suffrage and a Senate with 259 members, who exercise the same period but are elected regionally : 208 provincial constituencies and 51 appointed by state government. The Spanish Parliament, or Parliament, among other things, approves budgets and oversee government action.
The General Council is the governing body of the judiciary, which is administered by judges and magistrates, in the very name of the King. The highest legal body is the State High Court and its president is appointed by His Majesty, after the General Council of the Judiciary. There is a territorial superior court for each autonomous region, 52 other provincial courts, and other minors who are in charge of criminal cases and labor, among other issues. Moreover, the Constitutional Court regulates and controls to enforce the Constitution in all areas. Administratively, Spain is divided into provinces, 17 autonomous communities and two autonomous cities, which have their respective parliaments and executives.
All Spanish citizens are automatically included on the electoral roll when they turn 18 years old. The body responsible for overseeing the electoral process is the Electoral Board, this is a territorially defined entity (Central Electoral Board, Provincial Electoral and Electoral Area and the Autonomous Communities). Within each area in question, each board has complete authority over the organization and all matters relating to the process, such as monitoring the operations and its legality. More than 30 million voters receive a card in advance at home, which tells the Census registration. This management is the responsibility of the Electoral Census Office, which depends on the Electoral and the National Institute of Statistics. To keep the information, municipalities regularly declare the ups and downs in population and changes of address.
There are many political parties, alliances and coalitions, although the most important are: Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) Aragonese Council (CHA) Canarian Coalition (CC) Convergence and Union (CiU) Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) Eusko Alkartasuna (AD) Izquierda Unida (IU) Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds (ICV) Nafarroa Bai (Na-Bai) Partido Aragonés (PAR) Basque Nationalist Party (PNV-EAJ) Partido Popular (PP) Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE)