The Politics Of Spain

While it may not affect one's day-to-day life, it's always a good thing to know about the political system in the country you're about to visit. Today, we take a look at Spain's government.

Spanish politics take place in a parliamentary representative democratic constitutional monarchy. Sound confusing? Well, this basically reflects Spanish history all the way from Kings of yeseryear to modern political science. The Monarch is officially the Head of State (similar to England) and the Prime Minister (or President of the Government) is equivalent to Barack Obama's role in the United States. The parliament represents a multi-party system with representation based on national elections.

As far as legislative power, there are two chambers of parliament (similar to the House of Representatives and the Senate in the U.S.). The judiciary is completely indepedent of both of the other branches.

The current Prime Minister of Spain is José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who is better known as just Zapatero. He has been nominated to this role twice by King Juan Carlos, and elected by the Congress both times (2004 and 2008). His party is called the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, and they have won a plurality of seats in the Congress of Deputies.

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Spain Blocks Basque Referendum

(photo: the stunning Guggenheim in Bilbao)

The AP is reporting that the Spanish government has filed a lawsuit with the Constitutional Court to block a planned referendum in the Basque region. This, of course, comes with an interesting historical context as the referendum can be seen as a clear signal of Basque independence. Spain claims that the move is unconstitutional because they are a central government. Granted historical region status by the government in 1978, Basque Country has a very unique culture (including original cuisine, language and customs).

We even have a unique Basque Country section here.

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