Government of Spain

Kingdom of Spain
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The Government of Spain is the central government which leads the executive branch and the General State Administration of Spain. The Government depends of the Parliament (Cortes Generales) and more precisely of the Congress of the Deputies, body which invest the President or cease him through the motion of censure. This is because Spain is a parliamentary system established by the Constitution of 1978.

Its fundamental regulation is placed in Title IV of the Constitution, as well as in Title V of that document, with respect to its relationship with the Cortes Generales, and in Law 50/1997, of November 27, of the Government.

According to Article 97 of the Constitution and Article 1.1 of the Government Act, "the Government directs domestic and foreign policy, the civil and military administration and the defense of the State. It exercises the executive function and the regulatory regulation according to the Constitution and the laws".

Principles

The Government's performance is governed by the following operating principles:

• Principle of presidential direction: The President of the Government directs to the Ministers and can appoint or cease them freely.
• Principle of responsibility: The President responds politically to the Congress of Deputies for the action of the Government. The eventual cessation of the President implies the cessation of the Government.
• Principle of collegiality: The Government, understood as Council of Ministers, is a collegiate body composed of a plurality of members of the Government.
• Principle of solidarity: The Government responds in solidum for the action of each one of the members of the Government.
• Departmental principle: The members of the Government, as well as members of this collegiate body, are also the heads of the departmental bodies in charge of a more or less homogeneous area of competence.

Members

To see the current members, see Current government.

According to Article 98 of the Spanish Constitution and Article 1.2 of the Government Law, the Government of Spain is composed of:

• The President of the Government.
• The Vice President of the Government or Vice Presidents (If there are more than one).
• The Ministers.
• Other members. There is the possibility of incorporating other figures into government by law. However, this constitutional possibility has not been used until today.

Requirements

In accordance with article 11 of the Law of the Government, "to be a member of the Government it is required to be Spanish, adult, to enjoy the rights of active and passive suffrage, as well as not to be disabled to exercise employment or public office by sentence Judicial firm. "

Criminal privileges

The members of the Government enjoy their own criminal procedure, so that they will only be tried by the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court.^[1]

The initiation of a case for treason or against the security of the State can only respond to the initiative of a quarter of the Congress of Deputies, approved by an absolute majority thereof,^[2] and can not be granted pardon in such cases.^[3]

Head of State

• The Monarchy of Spain holds the constitutional head of state, which has no executive role, other than appointing officials, requiring reports of official activities and representing Spain at formal and ceremonial occasions. The king is also the commander in chief of the Spanish Armed Forces in which capacity he suppressed the 23-F Spanish coup d'état attempt in February 1981.
  • The king, currently Felipe VI, has held this position since 19 June 2014. His predecessor, Juan Carlos I, abdicated the throne. This is a hereditary post. Daughters can inherit only if the monarch has no sons.
  • The heir presumptive is Leonor, Princess of Asturias.
  • The Military Chief of Staff (Jefe de Estado mayor) is General of the Army Fernando Alejandre Martínez.

Heads of Government

• President of the Government, sometimes misleadingly called "the Spanish President", is the first minister and is elected by the Congress of Deputies. He is informally but internationally and commonly referred to as the "Prime Minister". The current holder is Mariano Rajoy Brey, who was elected on 21 December 2011. He appoints a number of vice-presidents ordered numerically according to rank and responsible for their respective major ministries such as Finance, Foreign affairs, Domestic administration, etc.
  • Minister for the Presidency and Vice President: María Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría Antón, appointed on 21 December 2011
  • Council of Ministers (Spanish Consejo de Ministros) is designated by the Prime Minister.

Previous Legislations

Presidents of the Governments of Spain since the Spanish transition to democracy

Current government

The following is the list of members of the Cabinet of Spain formed after the 2016 general election.

Logo

Shown here is the official logo of the Government of Spain. On the left are the EU and the Spanish flags; in the centre is the coat of arms of Spain and the words Gobierno de España (in English: "Government of Spain"); and on the right side is a representation of La Moncloa, the official residence of the Prime Minister of Spain, where press conferences are given and the Council of Ministers meets. Below it is a variant design for the Ministry of Finance.

References

• (in Spanish) Spanish cabinets from 1931 to 2004

External links

• Official website
• Law 50/1997, of the Government Boe.es

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