Spain is a parliamentary monarchy in which the King is Head of State. Any action taken by the king falls under the responsibility of the Government, and the Government is responsible to Parliament.
The Government directs domestic and foreign policy, civil and military administration and the defence of the State.
It exercises executive and statutory authority in accordance with the Constitution and the law.
The Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales, has two chambers, the Congreso and the
Senate.
The most important assembly is the lower chamber, the Chamber of Deputies, which draws up State budgets and controls government action.
The Senate, with responsibility for amending legislation, is the chamber for territorial representation.
Voting in Spain is free, egalitarian, direct and secret and can be exercised by people over 18 years of age. General, autonomous community and municipal elections are held every four years.
Spain has many political parties that may be called upon to form a government. These play a fundamental part in Spanish political life and have been one of the main actors in the construction and consolidation of the current democracy. The specific and singular nature, depending on the region, of the national and regional parties with representation in the autonomous parliaments explains why subsystems within the autonomous parties exist. Spain therefore has a system of national parties and several subsystems of parties, some of them relevant as they do not reproduce the national model.
One of the most important aspects of the enactment of the Spanish Constitution in 1978 was the approval of the structure of the Spanish State into Autonomous Communities -17, to be specific, and two autonomous cities (Ceuta and Melilla) - each of which has its own regional Government and Parliament. The latter have broad responsibilities, particularly the so-called historic communities of the Basque Country, Catalonia and Galicia.
People who are in Spain are subject to Spanish legislation. Spanish law is similar to French or German law, for example, which are based on Roman law, but not to the Anglo-American system.
Laws are enacted by the national Parliament and the Parliaments of the Autonomous Communities.
Courts and tribunals with different jurisdictions are responsible for the administration of justice, which is decentralised for civil, criminal, social and administrative matters.
Lawyers are responsible for defending their clients while legal representatives deal with legal formalities. People on low incomes are entitled to free legal aid.
Any person arrested is entitled to be informed immediately of the reasons for his detention, his rights and his right to a lawyer. People may not be remanded in custody for more than 72 hours, after which the police must either release or charge them.
Text last edited on:05/2004
Source: European Union
© European Communities, 1995-2006
Reproduction is authorised.
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