Constitution of Spain

Spanish Constitution
Spanish Constitution
Created	31 October 1978
Ratified	6 December 1978
Date effective	29 December 1978
System	Parliamentary monarchy
Government structure
Branches	3
Head of state	King
Chambers	Bicameral
Executive	Government
Judiciary	Supreme Court of Spain; Audiencia Nacional; High courts of justice; Court of Auditors; Prosecution Ministry
History
Amendments	3
Last amended	27 September 2011
Location	Congress of Deputies
Author(s)	Fathers of the Constitution Gabriel Cisneros Laborda (UCD); Miguel Herrero y Rodríguez de Miñón (UCD); José Pedro Pérez-Llorca Rodrigo (UCD); Gregorio Peces-Barba Martínez (PSOE); Jordi Solé Tura (PCE); Manuel Fraga Iribarne (AP); Miquel Roca i Junyent (CDC);
Full text
	Spanish Constitution of 1978 at Wikisource

The Spanish Constitution (Spanish: Constitución Española)^[a] is the supreme law of the Kingdom of Spain. It was enacted after its approval in a constitutional referendum; it represents the culmination of the Spanish transition to democracy.

The current version was approved in 1978, three years after the death of fascist dictator Francisco Franco. There have been dozens of constitutions and constitution-like documents in Spain; however, it is "the first which was not imposed by a party but represented a negotiated compromise among all the major parties".^[1] It was sanctioned by King Juan Carlos I on 27 December, before it was published in the Boletín Oficial del Estado (the government gazette of Spain) on 29 December, the date on which it became effective.

The promulgation of the constitution marked the climax of the Spanish transition to democracy after the death of general Franco, on 20 November 1975, who ruled over Spain as a military dictator for nearly 40 years. This led to the country undergoing a complex process that included a series of political, social and historical changes, gradually transforming the Francoist regime into a democratic state.

The Constitution was redacted, debated and approved by the constituent assembly (Spanish: Cortes Constituyentes) that emerged from the 1977 general election. It then repealed all the Fundamental Laws of the Realm (i.e., the constitution of the Francoist regime), as well as other major historical laws and every pre-existing law that contradicted the new constitution.

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^ Carr, Raymond (1980). Modern Spain, 1875–1980. Oxford University Press. p. 177. ISBN 9780192158284. OCLC 6555498.

[Carr1980-2] Carr, Raymond (1980). Modern Spain, 1875–1980. Oxford University Press. p. 177. ISBN 9780192158284. OCLC 6555498.

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