List of Spanish regional legislatures

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Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Since its transition to democracy in the late 1970s, Spain has been organized in a quasi-federal system called the "State of Autonomies". Each Autonomous Community is required by the Constitution to have its own three-branched system of government with its basic rules codified in a special law called a Statute of Autonomy, a sort-of regional constitution. Although there is no Constitutional requirement imposed upon regional elections other than that they must be based in proportional methods,[1] all regional legislatures are unicameral, their members being elected in multi-member constituencies matching the provinces in the Autonomous Community[2] with seats allocated to party lists using the D'Hondt method.

Autonomous Cities

The cities of Ceuta and Melilla are explicitly empowered by the Constitution to form Autonomous Communities on their own.[3] Such provision was exercised by the respective City Councils in 1995, but not to its full extent: instead, the cities decided to adopt a regime between a normal city and a full fledged Autonomous Community, with the main differences being:[4][5]

  • The Assemblies of Ceuta and Melilla assume all the powers of the old City Councils, with the new Mayor-President assuming the role of the old Mayor. In particular, meetings of the Assemblies are presided over by the President of the City instead of having a separate Speaker of the Parliament like most legislatures.
  • Their legislatures are not allowed to pass primary legislation except on matters specifically allowed by the Spanish Cortes. Nevertheless, they are allowed to pass secondary legislation regarding matters far beyond the normal competences of cities in Spain.
  • In compensation for not being able to pass their own primary legislation, Ceuta and Melilla can formally introduce legislation in the Spanish Cortes, a privilege not held by other cities, not even the capital Madrid.
  • Elections to the cities' legislatures are fixed not to a certain date (like those of most Autonomous Communities), but to the date of the Spanish local elections. The writs are issued through a Royal Decree of the Spanish Government, while in all other Autonomous Communities (even in those with fixed election dates) it is the regional President who issues a decree dissolving the legislature and mandating elections to be held at the usually pre-fixed date.
City Legislature name
Local name
Members Mayor-President
Party
Last election
Fixed
Flag Ceuta.svg Ceuta Assembly of Ceuta
Sp. Asamblea de Ceuta
25 Juan Jesús Vivas Lara
People's Party
May 27, 2007
By Spanish law
Flag of Melilla.svg Melilla Assembly of Melilla
Sp. Asamblea de Melilla
25 Juan José Imbroda Ortiz
People's Party
May 27, 2007
By Spanish law

Autonomous Communities

Except for Andalusia, the Basque Country, Catalonia and Galicia, which were created by a special fast procedure,[6] most communities have very similar Statutes of Autonomy and election laws. Elections in those communities are fixed to a certain common date, which is currently "the fourth Sunday of May each four years",[7] so regional Presidents cannot trigger a snap election nor select the final election date from a range of close dates. However, there have been occasions when the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly has been forced to call an out-of-sync election because the legislature was deadlocked in the President election. In those cases, the next election still takes place at the fixed common date, causing the new term out of the fresh elections to be shorter than normal: see President of Madrid#The 6th term scandal.

On the other hand, Presidents of communities created by the "fast procedure" can select the actual election date and trigger snap elections, and have frequently done so, particularly in the Basque Country and Catalonia. The Andalusian elections are usually set to coincide with the Spanish general elections, but again, there is no requisite to that effect in the Andalusian legislation.

Community Legislature name
Local names
Seat MPs Speaker
Party
Last election
Fixed
Bandera de Andalucia.svg Andalusia Andalusian Parliament
Sp. Parlamento de Andalucía
Seville 109 Fuensanta Coves Botella
Socialist Party
March 9, 2008
By President
Flag of Aragon.svg Aragon Aragonese Corts
Sp. Cortes de Aragón
Zaragoza 67 Francisco Pina Cuenca
Socialist Party
May 27, 2007
By law
Flag of Asturias.svg Asturias General Junta of the Principality of Asturias
Sp. Junta General del Principado de Asturias
Oviedo 45 María Jesús Álvarez González
Socialist Party
May 27, 2007
By law
Flag of the Balearic Islands.svg Balearic Islands Parliament of the Balearic Islands
Cat. Parlament de les Illes Balears
Sp. Parlamento de las Islas Baleares
Palma 59 Maria Antònia Munar
Majorcan Union
May 27, 2007
By law
Flag of the Basque Country.svg Basque Country Basque Parliament
Ba. Eusko Legebiltzarra
Sp. Parlamento Vasco
Vitoria-Gasteiz 75 Bakartxo Tejeria Otermin
EAJ-PNV
November 20, 2012
By President
Flag of the Canary Islands.svg Canary Islands Canarian Parliament
Sp. Parlamento de Canarias
Santa Cruz de Tenerife 60 Antonio Castro Cordobez
Canarian Coalition
May 27, 2007
By law
Flag of Cantabria.svg Cantabria Parliament of Cantabria
Sp. Parlamento de Cantabria
Santander 39 Miguel Ángel Palacio
Socialist Party
May 27, 2007
By law
Bandera Castilla-La Mancha.svg Castile–La Mancha Cortes of Castile-La Mancha
Sp. Cortes de Castilla-La Mancha
Toledo 47 Francisco José Pardo Piqueras
Socialist Party
May 27, 2007
By law
Flag of Castile and León.svg Castile and Leon Cortes of Castile and León
Sp. Cortes de Castilla y León
Valladolid 83 José Manuel Fernández Santiago
People's Party
May 27, 2007
By law
Flag of Catalonia.svg Catalonia Parliament of Catalonia
Cat. Parlament de Catalunya
Oc. Parlament de Catalonha
Sp. Parlamento de Cataluña
Barcelona 135 Carme Forcadell i Lluís
Republican Left of Catalonia
September 27, 2015
By President
Flag of Extremadura (with coat of arms).svg Extremadura Extremaduran Assembly
Sp. Asamblea de Extremadura
Mérida 65 Juan Ramón Ferreira Díaz
Socialist Party
May 27, 2007
By law
Flag of Galicia.svg Galicia Parliament of Galicia
Gal. Parlamento de Galicia
Sp. Parlamento de Galicia
Santiago de Compostela 75 Pilar Rojo Noguera
People's Party
March 1, 2009
By President
Flag of La Rioja (with coat of arms).svg La Rioja Parliament of La Rioja
Sp. Parlamento de La Rioja
Logroño 33 José Ignacio Ceniceros González
People's Party
May 27, 2007
By law
Flag of the Community of Madrid.svg Madrid Madrid Assembly
Sp. Asamblea de Madrid
Madrid 120 Elvira Rodríguez Herrer
People's Party
May 27, 2007
By law
Flag of the Region of Murcia.svg Region of Murcia Regional Assembly of Murcia
Sp. Asamblea Regional de Murcia
Cartagena 45 Francisco Celdrán Vidal
People's Party
May 27, 2007
By law
Flag of Navarre.svg Navarre Parliament of Navarre
Ba. Nafarroaku Parlamentua
Sp. Parlamento de Navarra
Pamplona-Iruña 50 Elena Torres Miranda
Socialist Party
May 27, 2007
By law
Flag of the Land of Valencia (official).svg Land of Valencia Valencian Corts
Val. Corts Valencianes
Sp. Cortes Valencianas
Valencia 99 Milagrosa Martínez Navarro
People's Party
May 27, 2007
By law

References

  1. Spanish Constitution of 1978, Part VIII Chapter 3. Self-governing Communities:§152
  2. Except for Murcia, which divides its single province in five constituencies.
  3. Spanish Constitution of 1978, Provisions Transitional Provisions:§5
  4. Spanish Official Gazette: Estatuto de Autonomía para Ceuta (Spanish)
  5. Spanish Official Gazette: Estatuto de Autonomía para Melilla (Spanish)
  6. Spanish Constitution of 1978, Part VIII Chapter 3. Self-governing Communities:§151
  7. Madrid Assembly: Statute of Autonomy of Madrid, §10.7