Spain · Government
Government and administration in Spain
How the executive, legislature and administrative state are organised, and which body is responsible for what.
The three branches
- Head of State — The King
- Ceremonial head of state.
- Executive — President of the Government and Council of Ministers
- Accountable to the Congress of Deputies.
- Legislative — Cortes Generales
- Congress of Deputies and Senate.
- Judicial — Ordinary courts plus the Constitutional Court
- Governed by the General Council of the Judiciary.
How legislation is made
Bills pass both chambers of the Cortes Generales, with the Congress of Deputies able to override the Senate, and receive royal assent.
Enforcement institutions
- National Police and Civil Guard
- State law-enforcement bodies, alongside regional police.
- Public Prosecutor’s Office (Fiscalía)
- Directs prosecutions under the Attorney General.
Government bodies and regulators
- executiveMinistry of Justice (Ministerio de Justicia)Administers the justice system and civil registries.
- executiveTax Agency (Agencia Estatal de Administración Tributaria)Assesses and collects state taxes.
- independentAssociation of Registrars (Colegio de Registradores)Coordinates the land and commercial registries.
- independentOmbudsman (Defensor del Pueblo)Supervises the administration and defends fundamental rights.
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