List of Spanish regional legislatures

Summary

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 with seats allocated to party lists using the D'Hondt method.

Autonomous Cities edit

The cities of Ceuta and Melilla are explicitly empowered by the Constitution to form Autonomous Communities on their own.[2] 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:[3][4]

  • 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
  Ceuta Assembly of Ceuta
Sp. Asamblea de Ceuta
25 Juan Jesús Vivas Lara
People's Party
28 May 2023
By Spanish law
  Melilla Assembly of Melilla
Sp. Asamblea de Melilla
25 Juan José Imbroda Ortiz
People's Party
28 May 2023
By Spanish law

Autonomous Communities edit

Except for Andalusia, the Basque Country, Catalonia and Galicia, which were created by a special fast procedure,[5] 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",[6] 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 Members President Last election
Fixed
  Andalusia Andalusian Parliament
Sp. Parlamento de Andalucía
Seville 109
 
Jesús Aguirre
 
PP
19 June 2022
By President
  Aragon Aragonese Corts
Ara. Cortz d'Aragón
Sp. Cortes de Aragón
Zaragoza 67
 
Marta Fernández Martín
 
Vox
28 May 2023
By President
  Asturias General Junta of the Principality of Asturias
Ast. Xunta Xeneral del Principáu d'Asturies
Sp. Junta General del Principado de Asturias
Oviedo 45
 
Juan Cofiño
 
PSOE
28 May 2023
By law
  Balearic Islands Parliament of the Balearic Islands
Cat. Parlament de les Illes Balears
Sp. Parlamento de las Islas Baleares
Palma 59
 
Gabriel Le Senne
 
Vox
28 May 2023
By President
  Basque Country Basque Parliament
Ba. Eusko Legebiltzarra
Sp. Parlamento Vasco
Vitoria-Gasteiz 75
 
Bakartxo Tejeria
 
PNV
12 July 2020
By President
  Canary Islands Canarian Parliament
Sp. Parlamento de Canarias
Santa Cruz de Tenerife 70 Astrid Pérez
 
PP
28 May 2023
By President
  Cantabria Parliament of Cantabria
Sp. Parlamento de Cantabria
Santander 35 María José González
 
PP
28 May 2023
By law
  Castile–La Mancha Cortes of Castile-La Mancha
Sp. Cortes de Castilla-La Mancha
Toledo 33
 
Pablo Bellido
 
PSOE
28 May 2023
By law
  Castile and Leon Cortes of Castile and León
Cast. Cortes de Castilla y León
Valladolid 81 Carlos Pollán
 
Vox
13 February 2022
By President
  Catalonia Parliament of Catalonia
Cat. Parlament de Catalunya
Oc. Parlament de Catalonha
Sp. Parlamento de Cataluña
Barcelona 135
 
Anna Erra
 
JxCat
14 Feb 2021
By President
  Extremadura Extremaduran Assembly
Sp. Asamblea de Extremadura
Mérida 65
 
Blanca Martín
 
PSOE
28 May 2023
By President
  Galicia Parliament of Galicia
Gal. Parlamento de Galicia
Sp. Parlamento de Galicia
Santiago de Compostela 75
 
Miguel Ángel Santalices
 
PP
18 February 2024
By President
  La Rioja Parliament of La Rioja
Sp. Parlamento de La Rioja
Logroño 33 Marta Fernández Cornago
 
PP
28 May 2023
By law
  Madrid Madrid Assembly
Sp. Asamblea de Madrid
Madrid 135
 
Enrique Ossorio
 
PP
28 May 2023
By law
  Region of Murcia Regional Assembly of Murcia
Sp. Asamblea Regional de Murcia
Cartagena 45 María Visitación Martínez
 
PP
28 May 2023
By law
  Navarre Parliament of Navarre
Ba. Nafarroako Parlamentua
Sp. Parlamento de Navarra
Pamplona-Iruña 50
 
Unai Hualde
 
GBai
28 May 2023
By President
  Valencian Community Valencian Corts
Val. Corts Valencianes
Sp. Cortes Valencianas
Valencia 99 María de los Llanos
 
Vox
28 May 2023
By President

References edit

  1. ^ Spanish Constitution of 1978, Part VIII Chapter 3. Self-governing Communities:§152
  2. ^ Spanish Constitution of 1978, Provisions Transitional Provisions:§5
  3. ^ Spanish Official Gazette: Estatuto de Autonomía para Ceuta (in Spanish)
  4. ^ Spanish Official Gazette: Estatuto de Autonomía para Melilla (in Spanish)
  5. ^ Spanish Constitution of 1978, Part VIII Chapter 3. Self-governing Communities:§151
  6. ^ Madrid Assembly: Statute of Autonomy of Madrid, §10.7