Prime Minister of Spain

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The Prime Minister, or President of the Government (Spanish: Presidente del Gobierno), of Spain is the Spanish head of government, but not the head of state, which is the King. The President of the Government is elected by the Congress of Deputies (the lower house of parliament) on being proposed by the King (this step is a mere formality). The current office is established under the Constitution of 1978. It is presently occupied by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.

Contents 1 Official title 2 Election 3 List of Presidents of the Government 4 See also

[edit] Official title

The Spanish head of government is known, in Spanish, as the Presidente del Gobierno. Literally translated, this title is "President of the Government", but nevertheless the office-holder is commonly referred to in English as the "prime minister": the usual term for the head of government in a constitutional monarchy. However the Spanish for 'prime minister' is primer ministro. Thus, for example, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is the Primer Ministro del Reino Unido, not the Presidente del Gobierno.

In Spain the President of the Government is often called simply Presidente, meaning 'President'. More than once this has caused embarrassing errors among foreign authorities, such as mistaking Spain for a republic. For example Jeb Bush, the Governor of Florida, mistakenly referred to the head of government as the "President of the Spanish Republic" during a visit to Spain in 2003. [1]

[edit] Election

The President of the Government is not directly elected by the people but indirectly elected by the legislature. Following legislative elections, which take place every four years, the leader of the majority party, or the leader of the majority coalition, is usually proposed as President of the Government by the King and elected by the Congress of Deputies. The First Vice President of the Government (or First Deputy Prime Minister) is appointed by the King on the proposal of the President.

[edit] List of Presidents of the Government

This list only comprises the current period of Spanish democracy. To see the full list, refer to List of Presidents of the Government (Spain).

Name	Took Office	Party
Adolfo Suárez González	July 3, 1976	UCD (2 terms)
Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo Bustelo	February 25, 1981	UCD (1 term)
Felipe González Márquez	December 1, 1982	PSOE (4 terms)
José María Aznar López	May 4, 1996	PP (2 terms)
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero	April 17, 2004	PSOE (in office)

[edit] See also

• History of Spain
• Politics of Spain
• List of Presidents of the Government (Spain)
• List of Spanish monarchs