Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
The constitution of Spain of 1978 allowed for the nationalities and regions that make up the Spanish nation to accede to self-government and be constituted as autonomous communities, [1] which became the first-order political and territorial division of the Spanish territory.
The asymmetrical devolution is a unique characteristic of the territorial structure of Spain, in that the autonomous communities have a different range of devolved powers. These were based on what has been called in Spanish as hechos diferenciales, "differential facts" or "differential traits". [vii] [67]
Various powers have been devolved from the centre to these “Autonomous Communities”, which have their own parliaments and governing institutions. This process created a decentralised state structure but not a federal one. [15] While recognising a "right to autonomy", the Constitution reaffirmed the "indissoluble unity of Spain".
The majority of funding for the devolved governments comes from the UK Government under the Barnett formula, which governs the amount of money sent to the other nations, relative to how much is ...
In terms of the separation of powers, the national government contains all three branches of government (judiciary, executive and legislative); regional governments only have executive and (unicameral) legislative branches (no judiciary). Local government is administrative only [3] and their regulations must adhere to national and regional law.
King Felipe VI of Spain. The Spanish monarch, currently, Felipe VI, is the head of the Spanish State, symbol of its unity and permanence, who arbitrates and moderates the regular function of government institutions, and assumes the highest representation of Spain in international relations, especially with those who are part of its historical community. [7]
During the 19th century, Spain witnessed a struggle between the Ancient Regime and the liberal State, with two antagonistic concepts of government. The liberal State needed a new territorial organization that would allow it to govern the country in a uniform manner, collect taxes and create a single market with equal laws for all.
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.