Spanish Constitution | |
---|---|
Copy of the Spanish Constitution displayed at the Palace of the Cortes
|
|
Created | 31 October 1978 |
Ratified | 6 December 1978 |
Location | Congress of Deputies |
Author(s) | "Fathers of the Constitution" |
Signatories | Juan Carlos I |
The Spanish Constitution of 1978 (Spanish: Constitución española de 1978) is the current supreme law of the Kingdom of Spain. It was enacted after the country's 1978 constitutional referendum and is a furtherance of the Spanish transition to democracy. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 was preceded by numerous other constitutions.
The Constitution was ratified after a referendum on 6 December 1978, sanctioned by King Juan Carlos I on 27 December, and published in the Boletin Oficial del Estado on 29 December. The promulgation of the Constitution marked the culmination of the Spanish transition to democracy after the death of the former head of state, Francisco Franco, in 1975. This led to the country undergoing a series of political and historical changes that transformed the Francoist regime into a democratic state.
The separation of powers is implicitly stated throughout the Constitution, which says that all people have the right to decide the representatives who will occupy the Cortes Generales, consisting of the Congress of Deputies and the Senate; both share the legislative power. The Government, whose president is anointed by the Congress of Deputies, directs the executive power, and the judicial power relies on judges, and the Constitutional Court assures that all laws follow the Constitution.
The constitutional history of Spain dates back to the Constitution of 1812. After the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, a general election in 1977 convened the Constituent Cortes (the Spanish Parliament, in its capacity as a constitutional assembly) for the purpose of drafting and approving the constitution.