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29-648: Following the fall of the Republic in April 1939, the president of Spain , Manuel Azaña and the prime minister , Juan Negrín , went into exile in France . Azaña resigned his post and died in November 1940. He was succeeded as president by Diego Martínez Barrio , who had been prime minister in 1936. Following the occupation of France , the government was reconstituted in Mexico , which under

58-535: A constitutional monarchy since 1975, the monarch is head of state. Following the abdication of Amadeo I on 10 February 1873, the short-lived First Republic (1873–74) had four heads of state (officially, Presidents of the Executive Power): Estanislao Figueras , Pi i Margall , Nicolás Salmerón , and Emilio Castelar . On the eve of the pronunciamiento of 3 January 1874, General Pavia sent for Francisco Serrano y Domínguez take to

87-417: A large ( DIN A3 or larger) ochre -colored ballot called a sábana or bedsheet . Each voter may mark up to three candidates' names, from any party. This is the only occasion when Spanish voters vote for individuals rather than a party list . Panachage is allowed, but typically voters cast all three votes for candidates of a single party. As a result, the four senators are usually the three candidates from

116-563: A tacit endorsement of the monarchy by the previously staunchly republican Socialists. On 1 July 1977, the Government of the Spanish Republic was formally dissolved. In a gesture of reconciliation, Juan Carlos received the exiled leaders at a ceremony in Madrid. President of the Republic (Spain) President of the Republic ( Spanish : Presidente de la República ) was the title of

145-671: A total of 58 additional senators. The Spanish Senate is constitutionally described as a territorial chamber. Consequently, although in general its powers are similar to those of the Congress of Deputies, it is endowed with exceptional powers such as authorising the Government to apply direct rule to a region or to dissolve local government councils. Intensive debates about reforming the Senate's function and purpose have been going on for many years without any resolution. The first Spanish Constitution,

174-469: Is more complicated: the rule is to require a three fifths (60%) of both houses, but if the Senate does not achieve such a supermajority and a joint congress-senate committee fails to resolve the issues, the Congress may force the amendment through with a two-thirds vote as long as an absolute majority of the Senate was in favour. But for some specific types of amendments including those related to most clauses related to human rights, both houses must approve of

203-667: The Balearics (Baleares) and Canaries (Canarias)— Mallorca , Gran Canaria , and Tenerife —are assigned three seats each, and the smaller islands— Menorca , Ibiza–Formentera , Fuerteventura , Gomera , Hierro , Lanzarote and La Palma —one each; Ceuta and Melilla are assigned two seats each. This allocation is heavily weighted in favor of small provinces; Madrid , with its 6.5 million people, and Soria , with 90,000 inhabitants, are each represented by four senators. In non-insular constituencies, each party nominates three candidates. Candidates' names are organized in columns by party on

232-489: The Congress of Deputies is chosen by party list proportional representation , the members of the senate are chosen in two distinct ways: popular election by limited voting and appointment from regional legislatures. Most members of the senate (currently 208 of 266) are directly elected by the people. Each province elects four senators without regard to population. Insular provinces are treated specially. The larger islands of

261-539: The Prime Minister . Either house may propose an ordinary law (or bill, Spanish : proyecto de ley ). A bill passed by Congress can be amended or vetoed by the Senate in which case the bill is then sent back to the lower house, which can override these objections by an absolute majority vote. Organic laws , which govern basic civil rights and regional devolution, need an absolute majority of both congress and senate to pass. The process for constitutional amendments

290-668: The Spanish Constitution of 1812 , established a unicameral legislative, therefore, an upper Chamber did not exist. The Senate was first established under the Royal Statute of 1834 approved by Queen Regent Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies under the denomination of House of Peers but it did not last long and in 1837, under the Constitution of that year, the upper house acquired the denomination of Senate. It remained under

319-566: The United Kingdom , France and the Soviet Union did not recognise it. Following Franco's death in 1975, King Juan Carlos initiated a transition to democracy . In 1977, the exiled Republicans accepted the re-establishment of the monarchy and recognised Juan Carlos's government as the legitimate government of Spain. The key moment came when socialist leaders Felipe González and Javier Solana met Juan Carlos at Zarzuela Palace in Madrid —

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348-729: The head of state during the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1939). The office was based on the model of the Weimar Republic , then still in power in Germany, and a compromise between the French and American presidential systems . The "Republican Revolutionary Committee" set up by the Pact of San Sebastián (1930), considered the "central event in the opposition to the monarchy of Alfonso XIII", and headed by Niceto Alcalá-Zamora , eventually became

377-654: The Government for the head of the executive ; President of the Senate for the speaker of the upper parliamentary chamber , and so on. This has led to some confusion in countries where the term "president" refers solely to the head of state, such as the United States; several incidents involved high-profile American politicians calling the Spanish head of government "President", including George W. Bush in 2001, Jeb Bush in 2003, and Donald Trump in September 2017. With Spain

406-558: The Republic, the effective head of state, after the approval of the new Constitution in December 1931. Manuel Azaña remained as Prime Minister, head of the government, until 12 September 1933. With Franco's victory imminent, a National Council of Defense was established to negotiate a peace settlement with the Nationalists. By this point, Franco effectively had military control of the whole country. On 27 February 1939, after both France and

435-520: The Senate is the president of the Senate , who is elected by the members at the first sitting after each national election. The composition of the Senate is established in Part III of the Spanish Constitution . Each senator represents a province , an autonomous city or an autonomous community . Each mainland province, regardless of its population size, is equally represented by four senators; in

464-556: The Senate to represent the autonomous communities of Spain . Senators form groups along party lines. Parties with fewer than ten senators form the Mixed Group. If the membership of an existing group falls below six during a session, it is merged into the Mixed Group at the next session. For example, Coalición Canaria lost its senate caucus in 2008 after electoral losses reduced its group from six to two. The Basque Nationalist Party , falling from seven to four, "borrowed" senators from

493-576: The United Kingdom had recognised Franco's military victory, President Manuel Azaña , exiled in France, resigned. The following week, the so-called Casado Coup against Prime Minister Negrín 's government led to the creation of the National Defence Council which attempted, unsuccessfully to negotiate terms, with Franco breaking off talks motu proprio . Following Franco's final offensive at

522-440: The amendment by a two thirds vote, and an election must be held and the amendment must pass by a two thirds vote a second time, and if that is approved, the people must vote for the amendment in a referendum by majority vote. The Senate has certain exclusive functions including Senate reform has been a topic of discussion since the early days of Spanish democracy. One proposal would advance the federalization of Spain by remaking

551-722: The end of March 1939, the Republic fell. Senate of Spain Confidence and supply (24) Opposition (149) The Senate ( Spanish : Senado ) is the upper house of the Cortes Generales , which along with the Congress of Deputies – the lower chamber – comprises the Parliament of the Kingdom of Spain . The Senate meets in the Palace of the Senate in Madrid . The presiding officer of

580-468: The first provisional government of the Second Republic, with Alcalá-Zamora named President of the Republic on 11 December 1931. Spain is one of the democracies (see President of the Government for the full list of countries) where the term "president" does not solely refer to the head of state but to several distinct offices: President of the Republic for some historical heads of state ; President of

609-457: The government-in-exile faded away to a purely symbolic role. The government moved back to Paris in 1946. There was also a Basque government in exile and a Catalan government in exile. In the immediate postwar period, it had diplomatic relations with Mexico , Panama , Guatemala , Venezuela , Poland , Czechoslovakia , Hungary , Yugoslavia , Romania , and Albania , but the United States ,

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638-473: The insular provinces, the larger islands are represented by three senators and the minor islands are represented by a single senator. Likewise, the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla elect two senators each. This direct election results in the election of 208 senators by the citizens. In addition, the regional legislatures also designate their own representatives, one senator for each autonomous community and another for every million residents, resulting in

667-527: The leadership. Serrano took the title of president of the executive and he continued at the end of December 1874 when the Bourbons were restored by another pronunciamiento . Following the abdication of Alfonso XIII on 14 April 1931, there was no official head of state, meaning that the Prime Minister was, in effect, the highest office in the land. Niceto Alcalá-Zamora assumed the new role of President of

696-551: The left-wing president Lázaro Cárdenas continued to recognise the Republic, although Negrín spent the war years in London . Negrín resigned as prime minister in 1945 and was succeeded by José Giral . Until 1945, the exiled Republicans had high hopes that at the end of World War II in Europe, Franco's regime would be removed from power by the victorious Allies and that they would be able to return to Spain. When these hopes were disappointed,

725-501: The most popular party and the first placed candidate from the next most popular. Before 2011, a party could not choose the order of its candidates on the ballot paper; candidates were sorted alphabetically by surname . When a party did not get all three of its candidates elected, this arrangement favored candidates with surnames early in the alphabet. This was the case for 2nd placed parties in every province and for both parties in tight races when voters did not vote for three candidates of

754-505: The new regime opted for a unicameral system, which was continued under the Francoist dictatorship . Only after the Spanish transition to democracy in 1977 was it re-established. The Spanish parliamentary system is bicameral but asymmetric. The Congress of Deputies has more independent functions, and it can also override most Senate measures. Only the Congress can grant or revoke confidence in

783-417: The regimes of the constitutions of 1845 , 1856 , 1869 and 1876 . It was composed, at that latter time, of three main categories: senators by their own right, senators for life and elected senators. This house, along with the Congress of Deputies, was suppressed after the coup of General Miguel Primo de Rivera in 1923. After the restoration of democracy during the Second Spanish Republic (1931-1939)

812-399: The ruling Socialist Party to form their group; in exchange, they supported the election of socialist Javier Rojo as President of the Senate. Legally, 133 seats are required for an absolute majority, vacant seats notwithstanding. To date, senate elections have coincided with elections to the lower house, but the prime minister may advise the king to call elections for one house only. While

841-467: The same party ( panachage ). The legislative assembly of each autonomous community of Spain appoints a senators to represent the community, with one senator per one million citizens, rounded up. Demographic growth increased the combined size of the regional appointed senators from 51 to 57 since 1983. Conventionally , the proportions of the regional senators mimic their legislative assemblies. However, autonomous communities have considerable leeway, and

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