Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

's first Constitution

Constitution

A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...

 was passed in 1812. A list of the different Spanish constitutional laws follows:

Name	In force	Form of state	Democracy	Repeal	Observations
Bayonne Statute Bayonne Statute The Bayonne Statute —also Bayonne Constitution or Bayonne Charter and, officially in French, Acte Constitutionnel de l’Espagne—was a constitution or a royal charter approved in Bayonne, France, 8 July 1808, by Joseph Bonaparte as the intended basis for his rule as king of Spain... Royal Charter Charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...	1808–1814	Monarchy	Bicameral parliament with semi-elective lower house	Spanish War of Independence Peninsular War The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...  lost by King Joseph Bonaparte Joseph Bonaparte Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte was the elder brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, who made him King of Naples and Sicily , and later King of Spain...	Not recognized by the Spanish patriots during the war. Most of its contents were to be enacted through the 1810s, so it did not actually work.
Cádiz Constitution Spanish Constitution of 1812 The Spanish Constitution of 1812 was promulgated 19 March 1812 by the Cádiz Cortes, the national legislative assembly of Spain, while in refuge from the Peninsular War...	1812-1814 1820-1823 1836-1837	Monarchy	Elected parliament	King Ferdinand VII reinstated absolutism Absolutism (European history) Absolutism or The Age of Absolutism is a historiographical term used to describe a form of monarchical power that is unrestrained by all other institutions, such as churches, legislatures, or social elites...  in 1814 and again in 1820. Superseded in 1837.	The Crown was granted wide-ranging veto powers, which Ferdinand VII used to prevent the liberal governments from functioning.
Royal Statute Royal Charter	1834–1836	Monarchy	Bicameral parliament with elected lower house and appointed Senate	Regent forced to reinstate the 1812 Constitution after a military pronunciamiento.	Granted by Regent Maria Christina Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies was Queen consort of Spain and Regent of Spain .-Early years and first marriage:...  in order to get support from the liberals in the First Carlist War First Carlist War The First Carlist War was a civil war in Spain from 1833-1839.-Historical background:At the beginning of the 18th century, Philip V, the first Bourbon king of Spain, promulgated the Salic Law, which declared illegal the inheritance of the Spanish crown by women...
1837 Constitution Spanish Constitution of 1837 The Spanish Constitution of 1837 was the constitution of Spain from 1837 to 1845. Its principal legacy was to restore the most progressive features of the Spanish Constitution of 1812 and to entrench the concepts of constitutionalism, parliamentarism, and separation of powers in Spain.-...	1837–1845	Monarchy		Superseded	Partially suspended by Regent Baldomero Espartero to rule by decree between 1840 and 1843.
1845 Constitution	1845–1869	Monarchy	Parliament elected by censitary suffrage	Queen Isabella II Isabella II of Spain Isabella II was the only female monarch of Spain in modern times. She came to the throne as an infant, but her succession was disputed by the Carlists, who refused to recognise a female sovereign, leading to the Carlist Wars. After a troubled reign, she was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of...  and her Government overthrown in the Glorious Revolution of 1868
Unborn (1856) Constitution	Never	Monarchy	Parliament elected by censitary suffrage	Scrapped by new Government	Passed by the Parliament but not enacted by the Queen as moderate liberals returned to power.
Glorious Revolution Constitution	1869–1876	Monarchy	Parliament elected by universal male suffrage	Republic declared by the Cortes after resignment of King Amadeo I Amadeo I of Spain Amadeo I was the only King of Spain from the House of Savoy...
Draft First Republic Constitution	Never	Federal Republic	Unicameral parliament elected by universal male suffrage	General Arsenio Martínez Campos led a successful pronunciamiento restoring the Bourbon monarchy.	Republic collapsed before even passing the Constitution, mainly due to wide disagreement over the federalism vs centralism issue.
Restoration Constitution	1876–1931	Monarchy	Parliament elected, first by censitary, then universal male suffrage from the 1890s	Republic Second Spanish Republic The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....  instated after King Alphonse XIII Alfonso XIII of Spain Alfonso XIII was King of Spain from 1886 until 1931. His mother, Maria Christina of Austria, was appointed regent during his minority...  fled Spain.	While theoretically democratic, elections were routinely rigged by the governing party, and in practice power was shared by two alternating parties (the turno Turno After almost a whole century of political instability and many civil wars, the aim of the Restoration was to ensure political stability in Spain. Under this plan, El Turno Pacífico was a system put in place by Antonio Cánovas del Castillo whereby the two "official" parties of the Cánovas...  system). During Primo de Rivera's Miguel Primo de Rivera Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, 2nd Marquis of Estella, 22nd Count of Sobremonte, Knight of Calatrava was a Spanish dictator, aristocrat, and a military official who was appointed Prime Minister by the King and who for seven years was a dictator, ending the turno system of alternating...  dictatorship (1923–1930) many of its articles were suspended in a de facto De facto De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...  dictatorship.
Second Republic Constitution Spanish Constitution of 1931 The Spanish Constitution of 1931 meant the beginning of the Second Spanish Republic, the second period of Spanish history to date in which the election of both the positions of Head of State and Head of government were democratic. It was effective from 1931 until 1939...	1931–1939	Semi-federal Republic	Unicameral parliament, first with universal male suffrage, then female suffrage from 1933	Civil War Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...  lost by the Republican side.	During the Civil War (1936–1939) it was abolished by the Nationalists and widely disregarded in the Republican zone
Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom Dictator Fuero Fuero Fuero , Furs , Foro and Foru is a Spanish legal term and concept.The word comes from Latin forum, an open space used as market, tribunal and meeting place... s	1938–1978	Dictatorship Theoretically, monarchy	Partially-elected unicameral parliament with small power of its own	By Parliament: the Law for Political Reform, last of the Fundamental Laws, started the Spanish transition to democracy Spanish transition to democracy The Spanish transition to democracy was the era when Spain moved from the dictatorship of Francisco Franco to a liberal democratic state. The transition is usually said to have begun with Franco’s death on 20 November 1975, while its completion has been variously said to be marked by the Spanish... .	A set of laws progressively enacted by the dictator Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...  as fuero Fuero Fuero , Furs , Foro and Foru is a Spanish legal term and concept.The word comes from Latin forum, an open space used as market, tribunal and meeting place... s for the Spanish People. The individual laws are: Fuero del Trabajo (1938), Ley Constitutiva de las Cortes (1942), Fuero de los Españoles (1945), Ley del Referéndum Nacional (1945), Ley de Sucesión en la Jefatura del Estado (1945), Ley de Principios del Movimiento Nacional (1958), Ley Orgánica del Estado (1967) and Ley de Reforma Política (1977).
1978 Constitution Spanish Constitution of 1978 -Structure of the State:The Constitution recognizes the existence of nationalities and regions . Preliminary Title As a result, Spain is now composed entirely of 17 Autonomous Communities and two autonomous cities with varying degrees of autonomy, to the extent that, even though the Constitution...	1978–present	Monarchy	Parliamentary democracy with bicameral, elective parliament	Currently in force, though talks for reform are common in Spanish politics	First in Spanish constitutional history not to grant any emergency power (i.e. sacking the PM, dissolving the Cortes) to the Head of State.

During Franco's

Francisco Franco

Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...

 dictatorship

Dictatorship

A dictatorship is defined as an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by an individual, the dictator. It has three possible meanings:...

, there were many attempts to create stable institutions that did not (at least directly) emanate from the dictator as they did in the post-war period. The Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom (Spanish Leyes Fundamentales del Reino) were a constitution in parts enacted through nearly 20 years starting in the 1950s. They established the very institutions that would later, under King Juan Carlos I and Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez

Adolfo Suárez

Adolfo Suárez y González, 1st Duke of Suárez, Grandee of Spain, KOGF is a Spanish lawyer and politician. Suárez was Spain's first democratically elected prime minister after the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, and the key figure in the country's transition to democracy.-Parents:He is a son of...

, commit "constitutional suicide" and pass the Political Reform Act, starting the Spanish transition to democracy

Spanish transition to democracy

The Spanish transition to democracy was the era when Spain moved from the dictatorship of Francisco Franco to a liberal democratic state. The transition is usually said to have begun with Franco’s death on 20 November 1975, while its completion has been variously said to be marked by the Spanish...

. Most of those Laws theoretically provided for a quite free state, much in the fashion the Soviet constitutions granted many freedoms, but ultimately the power of the Caudillo was supreme.

External links

Text of all Spanish Constitutions, except the 1808 one