Spain government structure and political parties. | (2024)

Executive Branch:chief of state: King FELIPE VI (since 19 June 2014); Heir Apparent Princess LEONOR, Princess of Asturias (daughter of the monarch, born 31 October 2005)

head of government: President of the Government of Spain (prime minister-equivalent) Pedro SANCHEZ PEREZ-CASTEJON (since 2 June 2018); Vice President Nadia Maria CALVINO Santamaria (since 12 July 2021)

cabinet: Council of Ministers designated by the president

elections/appointments: the monarchy is hereditary; following legislative elections, the monarch usually proposes as president the leader of the majority party or coalition, who is then indirectly elected by the Congress of Deputies; election last held on 10 November 2019 (next to be held in December 2023); vice president and Council of Ministers appointed by the president

election results: percent of National Assembly vote - NA

note: there is also a Council of State that is the supreme consultative organ of the government, but its recommendations are non-binding

Citizenship Criteria:citizenship by birth: no

citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Spain

dual citizenship recognized: only with select Latin American countries

residency requirement for naturalization: 10 years for persons with no ties to Spain

Legal System:civil law system with regional variationsSuffrage:18 years of age; universalLegislative Branch:description: bicameral General Courts or Las Cortes Generales consists of:

Senate or Senado (265 seats; 208 members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by simple majority vote and 57 members indirectly elected by the legislatures of the autonomous communities; members serve 4-year terms)

Congress of Deputies or Congreso de los Diputados (350 seats; 348 members directly elected in 50 multi-seat constituencies by closed-list proportional representation vote, with a 3% threshold needed to gain a seat, and 2 directly elected from the North African Ceuta and Melilla enclaves by simple majority vote; members serve 4-year terms or until the government is dissolved)

elections:

Senate - last held on 23 July 2023 (next to be held no later than July 2027)

Congress of Deputies - last held on 23 July 2023 (next to be held no later than July 2027)

election results:

Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PP 120, PSOE 72, ERC 7, PNV 4, other 5; composition (as of mid-2022) - men 161, women 104; percent of women 39.3%

Congress of Deputies - percent of vote by party - PP 33.1%, PSOE 31.7%, Vox 12.4%, Sumar 12.3%, ERC 1.7%, JuntsxCat 1.6%, EH-Bildu 1.4%, PNV 1.1% other 4.7%; seats by party - PP 136, PSOE 122, Vox 33, Sumar 31, ERC 7, JuntsxCat 7, EH-Bildu 6, PNV 5, other 3; men 196, women 154, percent of women 44%; note - overall General Courts percent of women 42%

Judicial Branch:highest court(s): Supreme Court or Tribunal Supremo (consists of the court president and organized into the Civil Room, with a president and 9 judges; the Penal Room, with a president and 14 judges; the Administrative Room, with a president and 32 judges; the Social Room, with a president and 12 judges; and the Military Room, with a president and 7 judges); Constitutional Court or Tribunal Constitucional de Espana (consists of 12 judges)

judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judges appointed by the monarch from candidates proposed by the General Council of the Judiciary Power, a 20-member governing board chaired by the monarch that includes presidential appointees, lawyers, and jurists confirmed by the National Assembly; judges can serve until age 70; Constitutional Court judges nominated by the National Assembly, executive branch, and the General Council of the Judiciary, and appointed by the monarch for 9-year terms

subordinate courts: National High Court; High Courts of Justice (in each of the autonomous communities); provincial courts; courts of first instance

Regions or States:17 semi-autonomous communities (comunidades autonomas, singular - comunidad autonoma) and 2 autonomous cities* (ciudades autonomas, singular - ciudad autonoma); Andalucia; Aragon; Asturias; Canarias (Canary Islands); Cantabria; Castilla-La Mancha; Castilla-Leon; Cataluna (Castilian), Catalunya (Catalan), Catalonha (Aranese) [Catalonia]; Ceuta*; Comunidad Valenciana (Castilian), Comunitat Valenciana (Valencian) [Valencian Community]; Extremadura; Galicia; Illes Baleares (Balearic Islands); La Rioja; Madrid; Melilla*; Murcia; Navarra (Castilian), Nafarroa (Basque) [Navarre]; Pais Vasco (Castilian), Euskadi (Basque) [Basque Country]

note: the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla plus three small islands of Islas Chafarinas, Penon de Alhucemas, and Penon de Velez de la Gomera, administered directly by the Spanish central government, are all along the coast of Morocco and are collectively referred to as Places of Sovereignty (Plazas de Soberania)

Political Parties and Leaders:Asturias Forum or FAC [Carmen MORIYON]

Basque Country Unite (Euskal Herria Bildu) or EH Bildu [Arnaldo OTEGI] (coalition of 4 Basque pro-independence parties)

Basque Nationalist Party or PNV or EAJ [Andoni ORTUZAR]

Canarian Coalition or CC [Fernando Clavijo BATLLE] (coalition of 5 parties)

Ciudadanos Party (Citizens Party) or Cs [Adrian Vazquez LAZARA]

Compromis - Compromise Coalition [Enric MORERA i Català]

Together for Catalonia or JuntsxCat [Albert BATET]

People's Party or PP [Albert Nunez FEIJOO]

Republican Left of Catalonia or ERC [Oriol JUNQUERAS]

Spanish Socialist Workers Party or PSOE [Pedro SANCHEZ]

Teruel Existe or TE [Tomas GUITARTE]

Unidas (Unite) or Sumar [Yolanda Diaz] (electoral coalition formed in March 2022) (formerly Unidas Podemos or UP)

Union of People of Navarra or UPN [Javier ESPARZA]

Vox or VOX [Santiago ABASCAL]

International Law Organization Participation:accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdictionInternational Organization Participation:ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, BCIE, BIS, CAN (observer), CBSS (observer), CD, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, EITI (implementing country), EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAIA (observer), MIGA, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Pacific Alliance (observer), Paris Club, PCA, PIF (partner), Schengen Convention, SELEC (observer), SICA (observer), UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, Union Latina, UNOCI, UNRWA, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZCDiplomatic Representation in the US:chief of mission: Ambassador Santiago CABANAS Ansorena (since 17 September 2018)

chancery: 2375 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037

telephone: [1] (202) 452-0100

FAX: [1] (202) 833-5670

email address and website:

emb.washington@maec.es

https://www.exteriores.gob.es/Embajadas/washington/en/Paginas/index.aspx

consulate(s) general: Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico)

Diplomatic Representation from US:chief of mission: Ambassador Julissa REYNOSO (since 2 February 2022); note - also accredited to Andorra

embassy: Calle de Serrano, 75, 28006 Madrid

mailing address: 8500 Madrid Place, Washington DC 20521-8500

telephone: [34] (91) 587-2200

FAX: [34] (91) 587-2303

email address and website:

askACS@state.gov

https://es.usembassy.gov/

consulate(s) general: Barcelona