Federations of the World

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Spain
A quasi-federal Constitution adopted in 1978
General Directorate of Cultural Affairs, Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Constituent units

• 17 Autonomous Communities: Andalucía; Aragón; Canarias; Cantabria; Castilla la Mancha; Castilla y León; Cataluña; Comunidad de Madrid; Comunidad Foral de Navarra; Comunidad Valencia; Estramadura; Galicia; Islas Baleares; La Rioja; Principado de Asturias; País Vasco; Region de Murcia and the 2 Cities of Ceuta and Melilla (on the North African Coast).
  • Map of the Communities and the cities of Ceuta and Melilla
  • Fact sheet on the Autonomous Communities
  • Information on the Autonomous Communities and cities of Ceuta and Melilla

Constitutional distribution of powers

• The Constitution of Spain, in particular:
  • Competencies of the National Government (articles 149.1 and 149.2)
  • Competencies which the Autonomous Communities may assume (articles 148 and 149.3)
    (Source of the English translation : The Senate of Spain)
• Laws organizing the Autonomous communities: pursuant to article 143 of the Constitution of 1978 (Spanish)

Legislative institutions

• National: Bicameral National Assembly (Cortes Generales) which consists of the Senate and the Congress of Deputies. The Senate is the House of territorial representation. It is composed of 259 members elected by a dual procedure: 208 are directly elected in constituencies (provinces) and 51 are chosen by the legislative assembly of each of the 17 Autonomous Communities.
  • The Senate of Spain: Introduction 
  • Official Website of the Senate (Spanish)
  • Official Website of the Congress of Deputies (Spanish)
    
• Autonomous Communities and Cities: Unicameral assemblies
  • Access to Autonomous Communities/Cities government official Websites: from map (Spanish)

Official languages

The Constitution stipulates that Castillian (Spanish) is the official language of Spain. It also recognizes the right of the Autonomous Communities to use their own language (Euskera, Catalan, Gallego, and Valenciano), in addition to Castillian.

• Article 3 of the Constitution of Spain

Other links of interest

• History
• Language and culture
• Federations magazine (Forum of Federations), notably;
• More power for Spain's municipalities?, Vol. 2, No. 5 / November 2002 (PDF)
• Taxes, transfers and spending in Spain: the regions and the centre seek the right balance, Vol. 2, No. 2 / February 2002 (PDF)