Cortes of Castile-La Mancha
| Cortes of Castile–La Mancha Cortes de Castilla-La Mancha | |
|---|---|
| Castile–La Mancha unicameral legislature | |
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Houses | Unicameral |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 49 |
 | |
Political groups | |
Length of term | 4 years |
| Elections | |
Last election | May 22, 2011 |
Next election | May 24, 2015 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
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The chamber of the Cortes of Castile–La Mancha Toledo, Castile–La Mancha | |
| Website | |
| Cortes de Castilla y León | |
The Cortes of Castile–La Mancha (Spanish: Cortes de Castilla-La Mancha) is the unicameral legislature of Castile–La Mancha, an autonomous community of Spain. The Cortes consists of forty-nine elected deputies.
The Cortes of Castile–La Mancha represent the popular will through 49 deputies elected by universal adult suffrage through the secret ballot. They are elected for a term of four years under a proportional system intended to guarantee representation to the various territorial zones of Castile–La Mancha. The electoral constituency is at the level of each province, with provinces being assigned the following number of deputies as of 2009: Albacete, 10; Ciudad Real, 11; Cuenca, 8; Guadalajara, 8; and Toledo, 12. Article 10 of the Statute of Autonomy states that elections will be convoked by the President of the Junta of Communities, following the General Electoral Regime (Régimen Electoral General), on the fourth Sunday in May every four years. This stands in contrast to the autonomous communities of the Basque Country, Catalonia, Galicia, Andalusia and the Valencian Community where the president has the power to convoke elections at any time. (In the Valencian Community that power has never been exercised. Elections there have, in practice, taken place on a four-year cycle.)
Since the Spanish regional elections of 2007, the Cortes of Castile–La Mancha has consisted of 28 deputies from the socialist PSOE and 21 from the conservative People's Party. The Cortes sits in the former Franciscan convent in Toledo, the Convento de San Gil ("San Gil building").
List of Presidents of the Cortes of Castilla-La Mancha
- I Legislatura: Francisco Javier de Irízar Ortega (1983-1987)
- II Legislatura: José Manuel Martínez Cenzano (1987-1991)
- III Legislatura: José María Barreda (1991-1995)
- IV Legislatura: José María Barreda (1995-1997)
- IV Legislatura: María Carmen Blázquez Martínez (1997-1999)
- V Legislatura: Antonio Marco Martínez (1999-2003)
- VI Legislatura: Fernando López Carrasco (2003-2007)
- VII Legislatura: Francisco Pardo Piqueras (2007-2011)
- VIII Legislatura: Vicente Tirado Ochoa (2011-Present)[1]