Spanish Politics Notes

Spain
• Spain’s government operates at four levels, central, regional,(for the autonomous communities), provincial and municipal
• “The separation of powers was acknowledged theoretically in the more progressive constitutions of nineteenth century Spain and clearly accepted in the Republican Constitution of 1931. Franco, however, made no pretence of following this tradition, affirming that his preference was not for the separation of powers but their unity. In practice, of course, this meant that the legislature and the judiciary played subordinate roles, becoming in effect simply instruments of an all powerful executive which was accountable to no body outside itself – in reality the executive was a tool in the hands of one man.” (Peter J Donaghy and Michael Newton, 1987)
• Whereas previously under Franco there were fifty provinces the country now had a semi-federal structure in which the powers of the state are shared with 17 newly created autonomous communities, each endowed with its own president, parliament, executive and high court of justice. In the modern history of Spain there is no precedent for such a major change in the structure of the state nor for such a fundamental shift of power from the centre to the periphery. This has been conceived as an essential ingredient of the return to democracy”
• A serious attempt has been made to create alternative region-based centres of political power which, while in the last resort subservient to the central power, enjoy a generous degree of freedom to run their own affairs.” P104
• All the states are subject not only to the Constitution, but also to their own individual statutes of autonomy.
• They have the right to draw up and approve laws, as well as the right to execute and administer them.
• Looking at public sector spending the relationship between the state and autonomous governments (including local authorities) is 50:50
• In classical federal states regions tend to assume control over a clearly defined area and inherit clearly structured institutions. Spain, on the other hand gave its regions the choice over whether or not they had autonomy and the level.
• Power is shared between national and regional governments of agriculture, cattle rearing and the maintenance of historic buildings. P1`13
• Nationalist, immigration, political asylum, defence and the armed forces, customs, and tariff barriers foreign trade; the monetary system; general economic planning; the authorisation of elections and referendums; the overall administration of justice; and the signing of international agreements and treaties.
• With the exception of the Basque country and Navarre, the other regions only enjoy a limited capacity for the self-generation of funds and the greater part of funds spent at regional level derive from central coffers. The Inter-regional Compensation Fund is also administered centrally.

These notes were created by Jonathan McHugh in March 2004