List of Spanish regional legislatures

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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. Although there is no Constitutional requirement imposed upon regional elections other than that they must be based in proportional methods,[1] all regional legislatures are unicameral, their members being elected in multi-member constituencies matching the provinces in the Autonomous Community[2] with seats allocated to party lists using the D'Hondt method.

Autonomous Cities

The cities of Ceuta and Melilla are explicitly empowered by the Constitution to form Autonomous Communities on their own.[3] Such provision was exercised by the respective City Councils in 1995, but not to its full extent: instead, the cities decided to adopt a regime between a normal city and a full fledged Autonomous Community, with the main differences being:[4][5]

City Legislature name
Local name
Members Mayor-President
Party
Last election
Fixed
Ceuta Assembly of Ceuta
Sp. Asamblea de Ceuta
25 Juan Jesús Vivas Lara
People's Party
May 24, 2015
By Spanish law
Melilla Assembly of Melilla
Sp. Asamblea de Melilla
25 Juan José Imbroda Ortiz
People's Party
May 24, 2015
By Spanish law

Autonomous Communities

Except for Andalusia, the Basque Country, Catalonia and Galicia, which were created by a special fast procedure,[6] most communities have very similar Statutes of Autonomy and election laws. Elections in those communities are fixed to a certain common date, which is currently "the fourth Sunday of May each four years",[7] so regional Presidents cannot trigger a snap election nor select the final election date from a range of close dates. However, there have been occasions when the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly has been forced to call an out-of-sync election because the legislature was deadlocked in the President election. In those cases, the next election still takes place at the fixed common date, causing the new term out of the fresh elections to be shorter than normal: see President of Madrid#The 6th term scandal.

On the other hand, Presidents of communities created by the "fast procedure" can select the actual election date and trigger snap elections, and have frequently done so, particularly in the Basque Country and Catalonia. The Andalusian elections are usually set to coincide with the Spanish general elections, but again, there is no requisite to that effect in the Andalusian legislation.

Community Legislature name
Local names
Seat Members Last election
Fixed
Andalusia Andalusian Parliament
Sp. Parlamento de Andalucía
Seville 109 March 22, 2015
By President
Aragon Aragonese Corts
Sp. Cortes de Aragón
Zaragoza 67 May 24, 2015
By law
Asturias General Junta of the Principality of Asturias
Sp. Junta General del Principado de Asturias
Oviedo 45 May 24, 2015
By law
Balearic Islands Parliament of the Balearic Islands
Cat. Parlament de les Illes Balears
Sp. Parlamento de las Islas Baleares
Palma 59 May 24, 2015
By law
Basque Country Basque Parliament
Ba. Eusko Legebiltzarra
Sp. Parlamento Vasco
Vitoria-Gasteiz 75 October 21, 2012
By President
Canary Islands Canarian Parliament
Sp. Parlamento de Canarias
Santa Cruz de Tenerife 60 May 24, 2015
By law
Cantabria Parliament of Cantabria
Sp. Parlamento de Cantabria
Santander 39 May 24, 2015
By law
Castile–La Mancha Cortes of Castile-La Mancha
Sp. Cortes de Castilla-La Mancha
Toledo 47 May 24, 2015
By law
Castile and Leon Cortes of Castile and León
Sp. Cortes de Castilla y León
Valladolid 83 May 24, 2015
By law
Catalonia Parliament of Catalonia
Cat. Parlament de Catalunya
Oc. Parlament de Catalonha
Sp. Parlamento de Cataluña
Barcelona 135 September 27, 2015
By President
Extremadura Extremaduran Assembly
Sp. Asamblea de Extremadura
Mérida 65 May 24, 2015
By law
Galicia Parliament of Galicia
Gal. Parlamento de Galicia
Sp. Parlamento de Galicia
Santiago de Compostela 75 October 21, 2012
By President
La Rioja Parliament of La Rioja
Sp. Parlamento de La Rioja
Logroño 33 May 24, 2015
By law
Madrid Madrid Assembly
Sp. Asamblea de Madrid
Madrid 120 May 24, 2015
By law
Region of Murcia Regional Assembly of Murcia
Sp. Asamblea Regional de Murcia
Cartagena 45 May 24, 2015
By law
Navarre Parliament of Navarre
Ba. Nafarroaku Parlamentua
Sp. Parlamento de Navarra
Pamplona-Iruña 50 May 24, 2015
By law
Land of Valencia Valencian Corts
Val. Corts Valencianes
Sp. Cortes Valencianas
Valencia 99 May 24, 2015
By law

References

  1. Spanish Constitution of 1978, Part VIII Chapter 3. Self-governing Communities:§152
  2. Except for Murcia, which divides its single province in five constituencies.
  3. Spanish Constitution of 1978, Provisions Transitional Provisions:§5
  4. Spanish Official Gazette: Estatuto de Autonomía para Ceuta (Spanish)
  5. Spanish Official Gazette: Estatuto de Autonomía para Melilla (Spanish)
  6. Spanish Constitution of 1978, Part VIII Chapter 3. Self-governing Communities:§151
  7. Madrid Assembly: Statute of Autonomy of Madrid, §10.7
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