The Spanish Constitution ( Spanish : Constitución Española ) 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 .
176-451: The current version was approved in 1978, three years after the death of 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". It was sanctioned by King Juan Carlos I on 27 December, before it was published in
352-598: A major scandal in parliament , and eliminated Alejandro Lerroux , the head of the Radical Republican Party, from the premiership. Subsequently, Alcalá-Zamora vetoed the logical replacement, a majority centre-right coalition, led by the CEDA, which would reflect the composition of the parliament. He then arbitrarily appointed an interim prime minister and after a short period announced the dissolution of parliament and new elections. Two wide coalitions formed:
528-546: A "possible caudillo for a military uprising". Disenchantment with Azaña's rule continued to grow and was dramatically voiced by Miguel de Unamuno , a republican and one of Spain's most respected intellectuals, who in June 1936 told a reporter who published his statement in El Adelanto that President Manuel Azaña should "...debiera suicidarse como acto patriótico" ("commit suicide as a patriotic act"). In June 1936, Franco
704-648: A 13th-century fabrication, the Fueros de Sobrarbe were subsequently used as the legal foundation for most Navarrese and Aragonese Fueros from the 13th century onwards. They enshrined the traditional principle "laws before kings" both in Aragonese and Navarrese law, justified the right to rebel against illegal royal decisions, and legitimised the existence of specific institutions such as the Justicia de Aragón , designed to The Fueros de Sobrarbe first appear mentioned in
880-574: A ceremony in the presence of parliamentarians. It came into effect on 29 December, the day it was published in the Official Gazette. Constitution Day ( Spanish : Día de la Constitución ) on 6 December has since been a national holiday in Spain . The Constitution contains 169 articles as well as a number of additional and transitory provisions. Notably, the Constitution also formally repealed several important Spanish laws related
1056-423: A constitutional provision catering to historic Catalan and Basque political demands, and leaving open the possibility of establishing their own autonomous communities . The Spanish Constitution speaks of "nationalities" and "historic territories", but does not define them. The term nationality itself was coined for the purpose, and neither Basques nor Catalans are specifically recognized by the Constitution. After
1232-572: A continuance of the war and in the keeping up of the tension in the Mediterranean." Hitler distrusted Franco; according to the comments he made at the conference he wanted the war to continue, but he did not want Franco to achieve total victory. He felt that with Franco in undisputed control of Spain, the possibility of Italy intervening further or of its continuing to occupy the Balearic Islands would be prevented. By February 1937
1408-515: A daughter, María del Carmen . Franco would have a close relationship with his daughter and was a proud parent, though his traditionalist attitudes and increasing responsibilities meant he left much of the child-rearing to his wife. In 1928 Franco was appointed director of the newly created General Military Academy of Zaragoza, a new college for all Spanish army cadets , replacing the former separate institutions for young men seeking to become officers in infantry, cavalry, artillery, and other branches of
1584-522: A degree of autonomy unknown in the rest of Spain, with local telephone companies, provincial limited-bailiwick police forces ( miñones in Alava, and Foral Police in Navarre), road works and some taxes to support local government. The post-Franco Spanish Constitution of 1978 acknowledged "historical rights" and attempted to compromise in the old conflict between centralism and federalism by establishing
1760-463: A dichotomous choice between "communism" or a markedly totalitarian "National" State, and setting the mood of the masses for a military rebellion. The diffusion of the myth about an alleged Communist coup d'état as well a pretended state of "social chaos" became pretexts for a coup. Franco himself along with General Emilio Mola had stirred an anti-Communist campaign in Morocco. On 23 February, Franco
1936-432: A fellow africanista , General Gonzalo Queipo de Llano , on 21 September 1924 to propose that Queip de Llano organize a coup d'état against Primo. In the end, Franco complied with General Primo's orders, taking part in the retreat of Spanish soldiers from Xaouen in late 1924, and thus earning a promotion to colonel. Franco led the first wave of troops ashore at Al Hoceima (Spanish: Alhucemas ) in 1925. This landing in
SECTION 10
#17327657825432112-510: A male preference primogeniture to the successors of King Juan Carlos I and his dynasty, the Bourbon dynasty . The heir to the throne receives the title of Prince or Princess of Asturias as well as the other historic titles of the heir and the other children received the title of Infantes or Infantas. If some person with rights of succession marries against the will of the King or Queen regnant or
2288-605: A manifesto and left for Africa, where he arrived the next day to take command. A week later the rebels, who soon called themselves the Nationalists , controlled a third of Spain; most naval units remained under control of the Republican loyalist forces, which left Franco isolated. The coup had failed in the attempt to bring a swift victory, but the Spanish Civil War had begun. Franco rose to power during
2464-511: A market, tribunal and meeting place. The same Latin root is the origin of the French terms for and foire , and the Portuguese terms foro and foral ; all of these words have related, but somewhat different meanings. The Spanish term fuero has a wide range of meanings, depending upon its context. It has meant a compilation of laws, especially a local or regional one;
2640-625: A monarchical officer. Disappointed with the plans by Spain's Prime Minister, Lieutenant General Miguel Primo de Rivera , for a strategic retreat from the interior to the African coastline, Colonel Franco wrote in the April 1924 issue of Revista de Tropas Coloniales ( Colonial Troops Magazine ) that he would disobey orders of retreat given by a superior. As a result, Franco had a tense meeting with Primo de Rivera in July. Lieutenant Colonel Franco visited
2816-629: A municipal constitution . This view was accepted by some others, including President of the United States John Adams . He cited the Biscayan fueros as a precedent for the United States Constitution . (Adams, A defense… , 1786) This view regards fueros as granting or acknowledging rights . In the contrasting view, fueros were privileges granted by a monarch . In the letter Adams also commented on
2992-485: A new constitution, it should have arranged for regular parliamentary elections and adjourned, according to historian Carlton J. H. Hayes . Fearing the increasing popular opposition, the Radical and Socialist majority postponed the regular elections, thereby prolonging their stay in power for two more years. This way the republican government of Manuel Azaña initiated numerous reforms to what in their view would "modernize"
3168-950: A new redaction from scratch. Date 1125 1127–47 1129 1133 1145 1147 1152 c . 1154 1157 1169 1173 1173 1175 1181 1198 1198 Grantor(s) Gutierre Fernández de Castro and Toda Díaz Pedro González de Lara and Eva Estefanía Sánchez Alfonso VII Íñigo Jiménez Osorio Martínez and Teresa Fernández María Fernández Manrique Pérez de Lara Martín and Elvira Pérez Sancha Ponce Ponce de Minerva Gonzalo, Constanza and Jimena Osorio Pedro Pérez and Fernando Cídez Ermengol VII of Urgell Gutierre Díaz Froila Ramírez and Sancha Grantee(s) San Cebrián de Campos Tardajos Villarmildo Guadalajara Yanguas Villalonso and Benafarces Castrocalbón Molina Pozuelo de la Orden Villarratel Azaña Villalobos Almaraz de Duero Barruecopardo Villavaruz de Ríoseco Cifuentes de Rueda In contemporary Spanish usage,
3344-610: A period of accelerated growth known as the " Spanish miracle ". At the same time, his regime transitioned from a totalitarian state to an authoritarian one with limited pluralism . He became a leader in the anti-communist movement, garnering support from the West , particularly the United States . As the dictatorship relaxed its hard-line policies, Luis Carrero Blanco became Franco's éminence grise , whose role expanded after Franco began struggling with Parkinson's disease in
3520-620: A preamble, several additional and interim provisions, a series of repeals, and it ends with a final provision. The constitutional history of Spain dates back to the Constitution of 1812 . After the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, a general election in 1977 convened the Constituent Cortes (the Spanish Parliament, in its capacity as a constitutional assembly) for the purpose of drafting and approving
3696-743: A professional squadron from the Luftwaffe (2JG/88) with about 24 planes. All these planes had the Nationalist Spanish insignia painted on them, but were flown by Italian and German nationals. The backbone of Franco's air force in those days was the Italian SM.79 and SM.81 bombers, the biplane Fiat CR.32 fighter and the German Junkers Ju 52 cargo-bomber and the Heinkel He 51 biplane fighter. On 21 September, with
SECTION 20
#17327657825433872-584: A progressive and non-confiscatory tax system . The principles of family law are laid out in Section 32. Chapter Two also deals with the right to property (Section 33), to create foundations (Section 34), to work (Section 35), to create professional associations (Section 36) and to collective bargaining (Section 37). This Section also guarantees economic freedom and calls for a market economy which can be subject to government planning (Section 38). Chapter Three includes Sections 39 to 52. They lay out
4048-417: A reassignment and ultimately abandoned his family, marrying another woman. While Franco did not suffer any great abuse by his father's hand, he would never overcome his antipathy for his father and largely ignored him for the rest of his life. Years after becoming dictator, under the pseudonym Jaime de Andrade, Franco wrote a brief novel called Raza , whose protagonist is believed by Stanley Payne to represent
4224-454: A reduced array of rights, among which the right of association, the right to honour, the right to due process of law, freedom of speech and the inviolability of the home are included. Chapter Two begins with Section 14, an equal rights clause . Section One (Sections 15 to 29) includes an enumeration of fundamental rights and public freedoms. This section is entrenched , meaning it is extremely difficult to modify or repeal, in order to prevent
4400-593: A restoration of Basque autonomy in recent times came under the Second Spanish Republic in the mid twentieth century. An attempt was made at restoring some kind of Basque self-government in the Statute of Estella , initially garnering a majority of the votes, but controversially failing to take off (Pamplona, 1932). Four years later and amid a climate of war, Basque nationalists supported the left -leaning Republic as ardently as they had earlier supported
4576-584: A separate Basque state, but the French invasive attitude on the ground and the deadlock of the self-government project led the Basques to find help elsewhere, i.e. local liberal or moderate commanders and public figures supportive of the fueros , or the conservative Ferdinand VII . The 1812 Spanish Constitution of Cadiz received no Basque input, ignored the Basque self-government, and was accepted begrudgingly by
4752-716: 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
4928-557: A set of laws specific to an identified class or estate (for example fuero militar , comparable to a military code of justice, or fuero eclesiástico , specific to the Roman Catholic Church ). In many of these senses, its equivalent in medieval England would be the custumal . In the 20th century, Francisco Franco 's regime used the term fueros for several of the fundamental laws . The term implied these were not constitutions subject to debate and change by
5104-485: A sovereign people, but orders from the only legitimate source of authority, as in feudal times. Fuero dates back to the medieval period: the lord could concede or acknowledge a fuero to certain groups or communities, most notably the Roman Catholic Church , the military, and certain regions that fell under the same monarchy as Castile or, later, Spain , but were not fully integrated into those countries. The relations among fueros , other bodies of law (including
5280-514: A three-day forced march led by Franco. In 1923, now a lieutenant colonel , he was made commander of the Legion. On 22 October 1923, Franco married María del Carmen Polo y Martínez-Valdès (11 June 1900 – 6 February 1988). Following his honeymoon Franco was summoned to Madrid to be presented to King Alfonso XIII . This and other occasions of royal attention would mark him during the Republic as
5456-590: A tough approach on the Basque self-government and specific laws. Both fear and anger spread among the Basques at his uncompromising stance. The 1789 Revolution brought the rise of the Jacobin nation state —also referred to in a Spanish context as "unitarism", unrelated to the religious view of similar name . Whereas the French Ancien Régime recognized the regional specific laws, the new order did not allow for such autonomy. The jigsaw puzzle of fiefs
Constitution of Spain - Misplaced Pages Continue
5632-410: Is also present in civil procedures; in practice, the King has never been prosecuted and it is unlikely that he would be prosecuted even if it was proven that the monarch had committed a crime. The legal justification for royal immunity is that the King is mandated by the Constitution to fulfill several roles as the head of state; thus, the King is obligated to perform his actions and fulfill his duties, so
5808-429: Is done through a procedure or institution called the refrendo (" countersigning " in the official English translation of the constitution). All the King's acts have to undergo the refrendo procedure. Through the refrendo, other persons assume legal and political responsibility for the King's acts, if such responsibility is demanded from them. Article 64 explains the refrendo and transfers responsibility for royal acts to
5984-522: Is no person entitled to exercise the regency, the Cortes Generales shall appoint one regent or a council of three or five persons known as the Council of Regency. The regent must be a Spaniard and legally of age. The Constitution also establishes in article 60 that the guardian of the King or Queen during their minority cannot be the same as the person who acts as regent, unless the regent is
6160-455: Is the author of a sharp critical reflection against the participation of the left in the revolt: "The uprising of 1934 is unforgivable. The argument that Mr Gil Robles tried to destroy the Constitution to establish fascism was, at once, hypocritical and false. With the rebellion of 1934, the Spanish left lost even the shadow of moral authority to condemn the rebellion of 1936." At the start of
6336-473: 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
6512-500: The Cortes approve and the Spanish people ratify the following Constitution. As a result, Spain is now composed entirely of 17 Autonomous Communities and two autonomous cities with varying degrees of autonomy, to the extent that, even though the Constitution does not formally state that Spain is a federation (nor a unitary state), actual power shows, depending on the issue considered, widely varying grades of decentralization, ranging from
6688-437: The 1981 coup d'état attempt and the ensuing passing of the restrictive LOAPA act, such possibility of autonomy got opened to whatever (reshaped) Spanish region demanded it (such as Castile and León , Valencia , etc.), even to those never struggling to have their separate identity recognized and always considering themselves invariably Spanish. The State of Autonomous Communities took the shape of administrative districts and
6864-677: The Basque Country autonomous community. The Basque provinces still perform tax collection in their respective territories, coordinating with the Basque/Navarrese, Spanish, as well as European governments. Today, the act regulating the powers of the government of Navarre is the Amejoramiento del Fuero ("Betterment of the Fuero"), and the official name of Navarre is Comunidad Foral de Navarra , foral ('chartered') being
7040-644: The Basque districts , ultimately leading to the 1893–94 Gamazada uprising in Navarre. Sabino Arana bore witness to the popular revolt as a Biscayne envoy to the protests. The enthusiasm raised by the popular revolt in Navarre against the breach of war ending agreements made a deep impact on Sabino Arana, who went on to found the Basque Nationalist Party in 1895, based in Biscay but aiming beyond
7216-507: The Bourbons , increasingly devalued the laws specific to regions and realms—Basque provinces and the kingdoms of Navarre and Aragon—sparking uprisings (Matalaz's uprising in Soule 1660, regular Matxinada revolts in the 17-18th centuries) and mounting tensions between the territorial governments and the Spanish central government of Charles III and Charles IV , to the point of considering
Constitution of Spain - Misplaced Pages Continue
7392-553: The Canary Islands . Initially reluctant, he joined the July 1936 military coup , which, after failing to take Spain, sparked the Spanish Civil War. During the war, he commanded Spain's African colonial army and later, following the deaths of much of the rebel leadership, became his faction's only leader, being appointed generalissimo and head of state in 1936. He consolidated all nationalist parties into
7568-497: The Cortes Generales , they shall be excluded from succession to the Crown, as shall their descendants. This article also establishes that if the lines are extinguished, the Cortes Generales shall decide who will be the new King or Queen attending to the general interests of the country. Finally, article 57.5 establishes that abdications or any legal doubt about the succession must be clarified by an Organic Act. This legal forecast
7744-700: The Ebro to the Pyrenees. The new borders protected the fledgling Basque industry from foreign competition and opened the Spanish market, but lost opportunities abroad since customs were imposed on the Pyrenees and the coast. After the First Carlist War , the new class of Navarre negotiated separately from the rest of Basque districts the Ley Paccionada (or Compromise Act ) in Navarre (1841), which granted some administrative and fiscal prerogatives to
7920-653: The FET y de las JONS (creating a one-party state ) and developed a cult of personality around his rule by founding the Movimiento Nacional . Three years later the Nationalists declared victory, which extended Franco's dictatorship over Spain through a period of repression of political opponents . His dictatorship's use of forced labour , concentration camps and executions led to between 30,000 and 50,000 deaths. Combined with wartime killings, this brings
8096-624: The French Foreign Legion . Franco became the Legion's second-in-command and returned to Africa. In the Rif War , the poorly commanded and overextended Spanish Army was defeated by the Republic of the Rif under the leadership of the Abd el-Krim brothers, who crushed a Spanish offensive on 24 July 1921, at Annual . The Legion and supporting units relieved the Spanish city of Melilla after
8272-541: The New World to escape these constraints. During the Reconquista, the feudal lords granted fueros to some villas and cities , to encourage the colonization of the frontier and of commercial routes. These laws regulated the governance and the penal , process and civil aspects of the places. Often the fueros already codified for one place were granted to another, with small changes, instead of crafting
8448-767: The Parliament of Navarre dangerous to the royal authority and condemning "its spirit of independence and liberties." Despite vowing loyalty to the crown, the Pyrenean Aragonese and Catalans kept their separate specific laws too, the "King of the Spains" represented a crown tying together different realms and peoples, as claimed by the Navarrese diputación , as well as the Parliament of Navarre 's last trustee. The Aragonese fueros were an obstacle for Philip II when his former secretary Antonio Pérez escaped
8624-607: The Popular Front on the left, ranging from the Republican Union to the communists , and the Frente Nacional on the right, ranging from the centre radicals to the conservative Carlists . On 16 February 1936 the elections ended in a virtual draw, but in the evening leftist mobs started to interfere in the balloting and in the registration of votes, distorting the results. Stanley G. Payne claims that
8800-596: The Prime Minister in most cases, though it also allows other ministers to assume responsibility for royal acts as well. In general, when there is not a formed government, the responsibility is assumed by the President of the Congress of Deputies . Without the refrendo, the King's actions are null and void . There are only two royal acts that do not require the refrendo. The first encompasses all acts related to
8976-525: The Second Melillan campaign in 1909 against native Moroccans, the first of several Riffian rebellions. Their tactics resulted in heavy losses among Spanish military officers , and also provided an opportunity to earn promotion through merit on the battlefield. It was said that officers would receive either la caja o la faja (a coffin or a general's sash). Franco quickly gained a reputation as an effective officer. In 1913, Franco transferred into
SECTION 50
#17327657825439152-811: The Spanish Army as a cadet in the Toledo Infantry Academy from 1907 to 1910. While serving in Morocco , he rose through the ranks to become a brigadier general in 1926 at age 33. Two years later, Franco became the director of the General Military Academy in Zaragoza . As a conservative and monarchist , Franco regretted the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of the Second Republic in 1931, and
9328-404: The Spanish Army of Africa . The first days of the insurgency were marked by an imperative need to secure control over the Spanish Moroccan Protectorate . On one side, Franco had to win the support of the native Moroccan population and their (nominal) authorities, and, on the other, he had to ensure his control over the army. His method was the summary execution of some 200 senior officers loyal to
9504-585: The Spanish transition to democracy . The legacy of Franco in Spanish history remains controversial, as the nature of his dictatorship changed over time . His reign was marked by both brutal repression, with tens of thousands killed, and economic prosperity, which greatly improved the quality of life in Spain. His dictatorial style proved adaptable enough to allow social and economic reform , but still centred on highly centralised government , authoritarianism , nationalism , national Catholicism , anti-freemasonry and anti-communism . Francisco Franco Bahamonde
9680-483: The fuero has been seen as a reason why so many clerics participated in the Mexican War of Independence , including insurgency leaders Miguel Hidalgo and José María Morelos . Removal of the fuero was seen by the Church as another act of the Bourbon Reforms that alienated the Mexican population, including American-born Spaniards . In the eighteenth century, when Spain established a standing military in key areas of its overseas territory, privileges were extended to
9856-424: The fueros had protected from the full weight of absolutism, due to their readiness to respect region and kingdom specific legal systems and institutions. The defeat of the Carlists in three successive wars resulted in continuing erosion of traditional Basque privileges. The Carlist land-based small nobility ( jauntxos ) lost power to the new bourgeoisie , who welcomed the extension of Spanish customs borders from
10032-406: The province of Cuenca programmed for 3 May 1936, after the results of the February 1936 election were annulled in the constituency. But Primo de Rivera refused to run alongside a military officer (Franco in particular) and Franco himself ultimately desisted on 26 April, one day before the decision of the election authority. By that time, PSOE politician Indalecio Prieto had already deemed Franco as
10208-502: The right of assembly (Section 21), right of association (Section 22), right of suffrage (Section 23), right to education (Section 27) and the right to strike (Section 28). The due process of law is covered by Sections 24 to 26. Section Two of Chapter Two (Sections 30 to 38) includes a list of civic rights and duties. Section 30 includes military duties with guarantees and alternatives for conscientious objectors (this section has been inactive since 2002). Section 31 establishes
10384-442: The right-wing Carlists (note that contemporary Carlists supported Francisco Franco ). The defeat of the Republic by the forces of Francisco Franco led in turn to a suppression of Basque culture, including banning the public use of the Basque language . The Franco regime considered Biscay and Gipuzkoa as "traitor provinces" and cancelled their fueros . However, the pro-Franco provinces of Álava and Navarre maintained
10560-467: The villas , than in the country towns ( tierra llana ). Modern jurists try to modernize the foral family laws while keeping with their spirit. During the colonial era in Spanish America, the Spanish Empire extended fueros to the clergy, the fuero eclesiástico . The crown attempted to curtail the fuero eclesiástico , which gave the lower secular (diocesan) clergy privileges that separated them legally from their plebeian parishioners. The curtailment of
10736-422: The 13th-century uprisings and clashes between different factions and communities, e.g. the borough wars of Pamplona . The loyalty of the Basques (the Navarri ) to the king was conditioned on his upholding the traditions and customs of the kingdom, which were based on oral laws. Ferdinand II of Aragon conquered and annexed Navarre between 1512 and 1528 (up to the Pyrenees ). In order to gain Navarrese loyalty,
SECTION 60
#173276578254310912-414: The 1960s. In 1973, Franco resigned as prime minister —separated from the office of head of state since 1967 —due to his advanced age and illness. Nevertheless, he remained in power as the head of state and as commander-in-chief. Franco died in 1975, aged 82, and was entombed in the Valle de los Caídos . He restored the monarchy in his final years, being succeeded by Juan Carlos , King of Spain , who led
11088-447: The Basque Country and Navarre), there are remnants of the old laws in family law . When the Civil Code was established in Spain (1888) some parts of it did not run in some regions. In places like Galicia and Catalonia, the marriage contracts and inheritance are still governed by local laws. This has led to peculiar forms of land distribution. These laws are not uniform. For example, in Biscay, different rules regulate inheritance in
11264-411: The Basque laws in the different provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa. These provinces and Navarre kept their self-governing bodies and their own parliaments, i.e. the diputaciones and the territorial councils / Parliament of Navarre . However, the prevailing Castilian rule prioritized the king's will. In addition, the ever more centralizing absolutism, especially after the accession to the throne of
11440-408: The Basques, overwhelmed by war events. For example, the 1812 Constitution was signed by Gipuzkoan representatives to a general Castaños wielding menacingly a sword, and tellingly the San Sebastián council representatives took an oath to the 1812 Constitution with the smell of smoke still wafting and surrounded by rubble. During the two centuries since the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Era,
11616-419: The Catalan population. Similarly, both Italian and German planes bombed the Basque town of Guernica at Franco's request. The Republican opposition was supported by communists, socialists, and anarchists within Spain as well as the Soviet Union and volunteers who fought in the International Brigades . Following the pronunciamiento of 18 July 1936, Franco assumed the leadership of the 30,000 soldiers of
11792-425: The Civil War, López Ochoa was assassinated; his head was severed and paraded around the streets on a pole, with a card reading, 'This is the butcher of Asturias'. Sometime after these events, Franco was briefly commander-in-chief of the Army of Africa (from 15 February onwards), and from 19 May 1935, on, Chief of the General Staff . At the end of 1935, President Alcalá-Zamora manipulated a petty-corruption issue into
11968-443: The Constitution and the laws. The King's official title is "King of Spain" ( Spanish : Rey de España ), but he is allowed to use any other titles that are associated to the Spanish Crown . The King of Spain enjoys immunity and is not subject to legal accountability. In a broad sense, this means that the King cannot be legally prosecuted. Some jurists say that this only refers to criminal procedures, while others claim this immunity
12144-428: The Constitution establishes that the monarch is the head of state and symbolizes the unity of the Spanish state. It refers to the monarch's role as a "moderator" whose main role is to oversee and ensure the regular functioning of the institutions. The monarch is also the highest-ranked representative of the Spanish state in international relations and only exercises the functions that are explicitly attributed to him by
12320-448: The French Crown. Since the high Middle Ages, many Basques had been born into the hidalgo nobility . The Basques had no uniform legal corpus of laws, which varied between valleys and seigneuries. Early on (14th century) all Gipuzkoans were granted noble status, several Navarrese valleys ( Salazar , Roncal , Baztan , etc.) followed suit, and Biscaynes saw their universal nobility confirmed in 1525. Álava 's distribution of nobility
12496-448: The King cannot be judged for actions that he is constitutionally obligated to perform. The King is vested with executive power, but is not personally responsible for exercising it. This does not mean that his actions are free of responsibility. The responsibility for the King's actions falls into the persons who hold actual political power and who actually take political decisions, which the King only formally and symbolically ratifies. This
12672-472: The Mexican state until the mid-nineteenth century. As Mexican liberals gained power, they sought to implement the liberal ideal of equality before the law by eliminating special privileges of the clerics and the military. The Liberal Reform and the liberal Constitution of 1857 's abolition of those fueros mobilized Mexico's conservatives, which fought a civil war , and rallied allies to their cause with
12848-765: The Navy, but as a result of the Spanish–American War the country lost much of its navy as well as most of its colonies. Not needing any more officers, the Naval Academy admitted no new entrants from 1906 to 1913. To his father's chagrin, Francisco decided to try the Spanish Army . In 1907, he entered the Infantry Academy in Toledo . At the age of fourteen, Franco was one of the youngest members of his class, with most boys being between sixteen and eighteen. He
13024-531: The Organic Act 4/2014 modified the Organic Act of the Judiciary to allow the former Kings to conserve their judicial prerogatives (immunity). The Regency is regulated in article 59. The Regency is a period in which a person exercises the duties of the King or Queen regnant on behalf of the real monarch who is a minor. This article establishes that the King or Queen's mother or father shall immediately assume
13200-578: The Republic (one of them his own cousin). His loyal bodyguard was shot by Manuel Blanco. Franco's first problem was how to move his troops to the Iberian Peninsula , since most units of the Navy had remained in control of the Republic and were blocking the Strait of Gibraltar . He requested help from Benito Mussolini , who responded with an offer of arms and planes. In Germany Wilhelm Canaris ,
13376-648: The Republic. Hitler's policy for Spain was shrewd and pragmatic. The minutes of a conference with his foreign minister and army chiefs at the Reich Chancellery in Berlin on 10 November 1937 summarised his views on foreign policy regarding the Spanish Civil War: "On the other hand, a 100 percent victory for Franco was not desirable either, from the German point of view; rather were we interested in
13552-723: The Republican government. The Catalan Bloc Obrer i Camperol (BOC) advocated the need to form a broad workers' front and took the lead in forming a new and more encompassing Alianza Obrera , which included the Catalan UGT and the Catalan sector of the PSOE, with the goal of defeating fascism and advancing the socialist revolution. The Alianza Obrera declared a general strike "against fascism" in Catalonia in 1934. A Catalan state
13728-716: The Soviet Union's military help started to taper off, to be replaced by limited economic aid. The designated leader of the uprising, General José Sanjurjo , died on 20 July 1936 in a plane crash. In the nationalist zone, "political life ceased". Initially, only military command mattered: this was divided into regional commands ( Emilio Mola in the North, Gonzalo Queipo de Llano in Seville commanding Andalucia , Franco with an independent command, and Miguel Cabanellas in Zaragoza commanding Aragon ). The Spanish Army of Morocco
13904-451: The Spanish Civil War, which began in July 1936 and officially ended with the victory of his Nationalist forces in April 1939. Although it is impossible to calculate precise statistics concerning the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath, Payne writes that if civilian fatalities above the norm are added to the total number of deaths for victims of violence, the number of deaths attributable to the civil war would reach approximately 344,000. During
14080-557: The Spanish Constitution establishes an exhaustive list of the King's functions, all of which are symbolic and do not reflect the exercise of any political power. The King sanctions and promulgates the laws, which are approved by the Cortes Generales , which the King also symbolically and formally calls and dissolves. The King also calls for periodic elections and for referendums in the cases that are included by
14256-715: The Spanish Crown represented by the Aragonese Fernando upheld the kingdom's specific laws ( fueros ) allowing the region to continue to function under its historic laws, while Lower Navarre remained independent, but increasingly tied to France , a process completed after King Henry III of Navarre and IV of France died. Louis XIII of France failed to respect his father's will to keep Navarre and France separate. All specific relevant legal provisions and institutions (Parliament, Courts of Justice, etc.) were devalued in 1620–1624 , and critical powers transferred to
14432-545: The Spanish Republicans, the operation was put in place with remarkable speed and energy. The first load of arms and tanks arrived as early as 26 September and was secretly unloaded at night. Advisers accompanied the armaments. Soviet officers were in effective charge of military operations on the Madrid front. Kennan believes that this operation was originally conducted in good faith with no other purpose than saving
14608-463: The abolition, put it down to Castilian centralism, stating that the royal prime minister, the Count-Duke of Olivares , had at last a free rein "for the kings of Spain to be independent of all laws save those of their own conscience." The Basques managed to retain their specific status for a few years after 1714, as they had supported the claimant who became Philip V of Spain , a king hailing from
14784-496: The adjectival form for fuero . The reactionary governmental party in Navarre UPN (2013) claimed during its establishment (1979) and at later times the validity and continuity of the institutional framework for Navarre held during Franco's dictatorship (1936–1975), considering the present regional statu quo an "improvement" of its previous status. While fueros have disappeared from administrative law in Spain, (except for
14960-614: The army. Franco was removed as Director of the Zaragoza Military Academy in 1931; when the Civil War began, the colonels, majors, and captains of the Spanish Army who had attended the academy when he was its director displayed unconditional loyalty to him as Caudillo . The municipal elections of 12 April 1931 were largely seen as a plebiscite on the monarchy. The Republican-Socialist alliance failed to win
15136-489: The blockade, successfully deploying a convoy of fishing boats and merchant ships carrying some 3,000 soldiers; between 29 July and 15 August about 15,000 more men were moved. On 26 July, just eight days after the revolt had started, foreign allies of the Republican government convened an international communist conference at Prague to arrange plans to help the Popular Front forces in Spain. Communist parties throughout
15312-457: The boundaries of each Basque district, seeking instead a confederation of the Basque districts. Arana, of a Carlist background, rejected the Spanish monarchy and founded Basque nationalism on the basis of Catholicism and fueros ( Lagi-Zaŕa , as he called them in Basque, "Old Law"). The competitive, Carlist vision of fueros was laid out in 1915 by Eustaquio Echave-Sustaeta and in 1921 by Teodoro de Arana y Beláustegui . The high-water mark of
15488-485: The cabinet presided over by Portela Valladares resigned, with a new cabinet being quickly set up, composed chiefly of members of the Republican Left and the Republican Union and presided over by Manuel Azaña . José Calvo Sotelo , who made anti-communism the focus of his parliamentary speeches, began spreading violent propaganda—advocating for a military coup d'état, formulating a catastrophist discourse of
15664-511: The campaign in Asturias, had been seen as a left-leaning officer) emerged as officers prepared to use "troops against Spanish civilians as if they were a foreign enemy". Franco described the rebellion to a journalist in Oviedo as, "a frontier war and its fronts are socialism, communism and whatever attacks civilisation to replace it with barbarism." Though the colonial units sent to the north by
15840-701: The cargo came Soviet agents, technicians, instructors and propagandists. The Communist International immediately started to organise the International Brigades , volunteer military units which included the Garibaldi Brigade from Italy and the Lincoln Battalion from the United States. The International Brigades were usually deployed as shock troops , and as a result they suffered high casualties. In early August,
16016-556: The case of towns or regions) the monarch simply acknowledged distinct legal traditions. In medieval Castilian law, the king could assign privileges to certain groups. The classic example of such a privileged group was the Roman Catholic Church: the clergy did not pay taxes to the state, enjoyed the income via tithes of local landholding, and were not subject to the civil courts . Church-operated ecclesiastical courts tried churchmen for criminal offenses. Another example
16192-686: The civil and military ranks and employments, and he also grants honors and distinctions according to the laws. The King is also the supreme head of the Armed Forces of Spain, although the effective lead is held by the Government of Spain. Finally, the King holds the High Patronage of all the Royal Academies and other organizations that have a royal patronage. The succession to the Crown is regulated in article 57 which establishes
16368-451: The congress, was finally successful in forcing the acceptance of three ministries. The entrance of CEDA in the government, despite being normal in a parliamentary democracy, was not well accepted by the left. The Socialists triggered an insurrection that they had been preparing for nine months. The leftist Republican parties did not directly join the insurrection, but their leadership issued statements that they were "breaking all relations" with
16544-422: The constitution. A seven-member panel was selected among the elected members of the Cortes to work on a draft of the Constitution to be submitted to the body. These came to be known, as the media put it, as the padres de la Constitución or "fathers of the Constitution". The seven people were chosen to represent the wide (and often, deeply divided) political spectrum within the Spanish Parliament, while
16720-479: The context of the ascension of the House of Champagne to the Navarrese throne. In 1234, when Theobald I of Champagne inherited the Navarrese throne from his uncle Sancho VII of Navarre , he was pressured by burgers and nobility alike to swear he would abide his decisions by customary law and honour their customary rights and privileges. As a result, Theobald I appointed a commission to codify said laws; this resulted in
16896-403: The country. Franco was a subscriber to the journal of Acción Española , a monarchist organisation, and a firm believer in a supposed Jewish-Masonic-Bolshevik conspiracy, or contubernio (conspiracy). The conspiracy suggested that Jews, Freemasons, Communists, and other leftists alike sought the destruction of Christian Europe, with Spain being the principal target. On 5 February 1932, Franco
17072-668: The death penalty by fleeing to Aragon. The king's only means to enforce the sentence was the Spanish Inquisition , the only cross-kingdom tribunal of his domains. There were frequent conflicts of jurisdiction between the Spanish Inquisition and regional civil authorities and bishops. Pérez escaped to France, but Philip's army invaded Aragon and executed its authorities. In 1714 the Catalan and Aragonese specific laws and self-government were violently suppressed . The Aragonese count of Robres, one strongly opposing
17248-703: The death toll of the White Terror to between 100,000 and 200,000. During World War II , he maintained Spanish neutrality , but supported the Axis —in recompense to Italy and Germany for their support during the Civil War— damaging the country's international reputation in various ways. During the start of the Cold War , Franco lifted Spain out of its mid-20th century economic depression through technocratic and economically liberal policies, presiding over
17424-497: The dictatorship of General Miguel Primo de Rivera and were therefore discredited in some nationalist circles, and Falangist leader José Antonio Primo de Rivera was in prison in Alicante (he would be executed a few months later). The desire to keep a place open for him prevented any other Falangist leader from emerging as a possible head of state. Franco's previous aloofness from politics meant that he had few active enemies in any of
17600-535: The discontent in the Spanish Republican Army , but received no reply. The other rebels were determined to go ahead con Paquito o sin Paquito (with Paquito or without Paquito ; Paquito being a diminutive of Paco , which in turn is short for Francisco ), as it was put by José Sanjurjo , the honorary leader of the military uprising. After various postponements, 18 July was fixed as the date of
17776-649: The due process of law, including the process of habeas corpus . In addition to this, the Prime Minister, the Ombudsman, 50 members of the Congress of Deputies, 50 Senators, and regional governments and legislative assemblies may lodge unconstitutionality appeals before the Constitutional Court . The Constitution dedicates its Part II to the regulation of the monarchy, which is referred to as The Crown ( Spanish : La Corona ). Article 56 of
17952-655: The emperor). Other Basque regions had similar provisions. The reach of the fuero was not limited by the territory. Biscayans in other parts of the Crown of Castile had extraterritoriality . They could take the appellations in cases involving them to the Sala de Vizcaya ("Biscay Hall") at the top court of Castile, the Chancillería de Valladolid ("Court of last resort ( lit. ' " chancery ' ) of Valladolid "). The Castilian kings took an oath to comply with
18128-575: The end of the monarchy, he did not object, nor did he challenge the legitimacy of the republic. The closing of the academy in June by the provisional War Minister Manuel Azaña however was a major setback for Franco and provoked his first clash with the Spanish Republic . Azaña found Franco's farewell speech to the cadets insulting. In his speech Franco stressed the Republic's need for discipline and respect. Azaña entered an official reprimand into Franco's personnel file and for six months Franco
18304-518: The establishment of a legal dictatorship via constitutional amendment. Furthermore, an individual can request the protection of a justice court if any of these rights are infringed. Individual rights include the right to life (Section 15), freedom of conscience (Section 16), right to freedom and security (Section 17), honour, privacy and inviolability of the home (Section 18), freedom of movement and residence (Section 19), and freedom of speech (Section 20). The list of collective rights include
18480-441: The executive power. Section 54 calls for the creation of an Ombudsman ( Defensor del Pueblo ), accountable to the legislative power, the Cortes Generales . It acts as a supervisor of administrative activity. In addition to this, it has standing before the Constitutional Court to lodge unconstitutionality appeals and individual appeals for protection (recurso de amparo) . Sections 14 to 29 and Section 30, Part 2, enjoy
18656-428: The factions that needed to be placated, and he had also cooperated in recent months with both Germany and Italy. Fuero Fuero ( Spanish: [ˈfweɾo] ), Fur ( Catalan: [ˈfuɾ] ), Foro ( Galician: [ˈfɔɾʊ] ) or Foru ( Basque: [foɾu] ) is a Spanish legal term and concept. The word comes from Latin forum , an open space used as
18832-450: The father, the mother, or a direct ancestor of the King. Parents can be guardian while widowed. If the parent marries again, the parent loses the guardianship, and the Cortes Generales shall appoint a guardian who must comply with the same requirements as to be regent. Article 60 § 2 also establishes that the exercise of the guardianship is also incompatible with the holding of any office or political representation so that no person can be
19008-470: The field. After two weeks of heavy fighting (and a death toll estimated between 1,200 and 2,000), the rebellion was suppressed. The insurgency in Asturias in October 1934 sparked a new era of violent anti-Christian persecutions with the massacre of 34 priests, initiating the practice of atrocities against the clergy, and sharpened the antagonism between Left and Right. Franco and López Ochoa (who, prior to
19184-477: The first written general fuero , the Fuero General de Navarra , enacted in 1238 and which drew its legal foundation from the fabled Fueros of Sobrarbe to justify the king's authority being subjected to the Fuero. The accession of French lineages to the throne of Navarre brought a relationship between the king and the kingdom that was alien to the Basques. The resulting disagreements were a major factor in
19360-453: The foundations of the Spanish welfare state in accordance with the constitutional mandate for a social state (Section 1) and for effective freedom and equality and societal integration for all citizens and collectives (Section 9, Part 2). It includes provisions for a public pension system , a social security system, public healthcare and cultural rights . Chapter Four includes a series of guarantees for fundamental rights. Section 53 limits
19536-733: The government at Franco's recommendation consisted of the Spanish Foreign Legion and the Moroccan Regulares Indigenas, the right-wing press portrayed the Asturian rebels as lackeys of a foreign Jewish-Bolshevik conspiracy. With this rebellion against legitimate established political authority, the socialists also repudiated the representative institutional system as the anarchists had done. The Spanish historian Salvador de Madariaga , an Azaña supporter, and an exiled vocal opponent of Francisco Franco
19712-650: The guardian of the monarch while holding a political office. Part III (Sections 66 to 96) deals with the Cortes Generales , the Spanish legislature. It consists of two chambers: the Congress of Deputies and the Senate of Spain , with the former being privileged above the latter, in contrast with other upper chambers, such as the Italian Senate of the Republic. Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975)
19888-512: The head of the Abwehr military intelligence service, persuaded Hitler to support the Nationalists; Hitler sent 20 Ju 52 transport aircraft and six Heinkel biplane fighters, on the condition that they were not to be used in hostilities unless the Republicans attacked first. Mussolini sent 12 Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 transport/bombers, and a few fighter aircraft. From 20 July onward Franco
20064-464: The head of the column at the town of Maqueda (some 80 km away from Madrid), Franco ordered a detour to free the besieged garrison at the Alcázar of Toledo , which was achieved on 27 September. This controversial decision gave the Popular Front time to strengthen its defences in Madrid and hold the city that year, but with Soviet support. Kennan alleges that once Stalin had decided to assist
20240-459: The heartland of Abd el-Krim's tribe, combined with the French invasion from the south, spelled the beginning of the end for the short-lived Republic of the Rif . Franco was eventually recognised for his leadership, and he was promoted to brigadier general on 3 February 1926, making him the youngest general in Europe at age 33, according to Payne and Palacios. On 14 September 1926, Franco and Polo had
20416-412: The idealised man Franco wished his father had been. Conversely, Franco strongly identified with his mother (who always wore widow's black once she realised her husband had abandoned her) and learned from her moderation, austerity, self-control, family solidarity and respect for Catholicism, though he would also inherit his father's harshness, coldness and implacability. Francisco followed his father into
20592-464: The king, who reversed it. Franco also received the Cross of Maria Cristina, First Class . With that he was promoted to major at the end of February 1917 at age 24. This made him the youngest major in the Spanish army. From 1917 to 1920, he served in Spain. In 1920, Lieutenant Colonel José Millán Astray , a histrionic but charismatic officer, founded the Spanish Foreign Legion , along similar lines as
20768-425: The kings. The force of these principles required monarchs to accommodate to the laws. This situation sometimes strained relations between the monarch and the kingdom, especially if the monarchs were alien to native laws. This tradition of "laws before kings" was enshrined in the legendary Fueros de Sobrarbe , claimed to have been enacted by king Iñigo Arista in the 850s in the pyrenean valley of Sobrarbe . Although
20944-513: The laws or the Constitution. The King also proposes a candidate for Prime Minister, which is probably the King's most 'political' function, as he traditionally holds meetings with the leaders of all the major political parties in order to facilitate the formation of a government. If a candidate is successfully invested by the Parliament, he formally names him Prime Minister of Spain. When a Prime Minister has been named, he also formally names all
21120-467: The leading role was given to then ruling party and now defunct Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD). The members included: The writer (and Senator by Royal appointment) Camilo José Cela later polished the draft Constitution's wording. However, since much of the consensus depended on keeping the wording ambiguous, few of Cela's proposed re-wordings were approved. One of those accepted was
21296-588: The level of autonomy for the Basque regions within Spain has varied. The cry for fueros (meaning regional autonomy) was one of the demands of the Carlists of the 19th century, hence the strong support for Carlism from the Basque Country and (especially in the First Carlist War ) in Catalonia and Aragón . The Carlist effort to restore an absolute monarchy was sustained militarily mainly by those whom
21472-530: The lineage of Henry III of Navarre . However, they could not escape the king's attempts (using military force) at centralization (1719–1723). In the run-up to the Napoleonic Wars , the relations between the absolutist Spanish Crown and the Basque governing institutions were at breaking point. By the beginning of the War of the Pyrenees , Manuel Godoy took office as Prime Minister in Spain, and went on to take
21648-534: The main planner of the attempted coup that had now degenerated into a civil war, and was strongly identified with the Carlist monarchists and not at all with the Falange , a party with Fascist leanings and connections ("phalanx", a far-right Spanish political party founded by José Antonio Primo de Rivera ), nor did he have good relations with Germany. Queipo de Llano and Cabanellas had both previously rebelled against
21824-427: The majority of the municipalities in Spain but had a landslide victory in all the large cities and in almost all the provincial capitals. The monarchists and the army deserted Alfonso XIII and consequently the king decided to leave the country and go into exile, giving way to the Second Spanish Republic . Although Franco believed that the majority of the Spanish people still supported the crown, and although he regretted
22000-479: The management of the Royal House of Spain; the King can freely hire and fire any employees of the Royal House and he receives an annual amount from the state budget to operate the Royal House, which he freely distributes across the institution. The second one refers to the King's will, which enables him to distribute his material legacy and name tutors for his children, if they are not legal adults. Article 62 of
22176-549: The mass deportation to the Landes of thousands of residents in the bordering villages of Labourd —Sara, Itxassou , Ascain —, including the imposition (fleetingly) of alien names to villages and towns—period of the National Convention and War of the Pyrenees (1793–1795). Some Basques saw a way forward in the 1808 Bayonne Statute and Dominique-Joseph Garat 's project, initially approved by Napoleon, to create
22352-434: The members of his government, all of which are proposed by the Prime Minister himself. The King has both a right and a duty to be informed of all the state affairs; he is also allowed to preside over the government meetings when the Prime Minister invites him to do so, although he has the ability to reject this invitation. Regarding the Government, the King also formally issues the governmental decrees, as well as bestowing all
22528-479: The military, the fuero militar , which had an impact on the colonial legal system and society. The fuero militar was the first time that privileges extended to plebeians, which has been argued was a cause of debasing justice. Indigenous men were excluded from the military, and inter-ethnic conflicts occurred. The fuero militar presented some contradictions in colonial rule. In post-independence Mexico, formerly New Spain , fueros continued to be recognized by
22704-442: The new constitution. The Spanish Constitution is a written document that takes cues from both older Spanish constitutions and other then-current European constitutions. For example, it contains the provision for a constructive vote of no confidence , which was inspired by German Basic Law . The Constitution is organized in ten parts ( Spanish : Títulos ) and contains an additional introduction ( Spanish : Título Preliminar ),
22880-422: The newly formed regulares : Moroccan colonial troops with Spanish officers, who acted as elite shock troops . In 1916, aged 23 with the rank of captain, Franco was shot in the abdomen by guerrilla gunfire during an assault on Moroccan positions at El Biutz , in the hills near Ceuta; this was the only time he was wounded in ten years of fighting. The wound was serious, and he was not expected to live. His recovery
23056-483: The office of regent and, in the absence of these, the oldest relative of legal age who is nearest in succession to the Crown. Article 59 § 2 establishes that the monarch may be declared incapacitated by Parliament if the monarch becomes unfit for the exercise of authority, in which case the Prince or Princess of Asturias shall assume the regency if they are of age; if not, the previous procedure must be followed. If there
23232-442: The political and social order. Chapter One deals with the entitlement of constitutional rights. Section 11 provides for the regulation by statute of Spanish nationality whilst providing for its inalienability for Spaniards. Section 12 establishes the age of majority in Spain at 18. Section 13 limits the entitlement of public freedoms to aliens to the provisions of statutes and international treaties. Legal persons are entitled to
23408-607: The political history of the country: the Laws of 25 October 1839 and 21 July 1876, related to the Basque fuero s and the aftermath of the Carlist Wars , as well as all of the Fundamental Laws of the Realm were repealed. It also supersedes the Law of 4 January 1977, on Political Reform, which was conceived as a temporary mechanism to loosen restrictions on fundamental rights inherited from the Francoist period . Traditionally, writing
23584-476: The preamble to the constitution was considered an honour, and a task requiring great literary ability. The person chosen for this purpose was Enrique Tierno Galván . The full text of the preamble may be translated as follows: The Spanish Nation, wishing to establish justice, liberty and security, and to promote the welfare of all who make part of it, in use of her sovereignty, proclaims its will to: Establish an advanced democratic society, and Consequently,
23760-494: The principle of human dignity as a foundation of the political order and social peace (Section 10). This can be achieved by means of constitutional reform, jurisprudential developments or the ratification of new international treaties. The effect of fundamental rights is twofold. They are subjective rights to be exercised both individually and collectively. In addition to this, they are a binding principle for all public authorities, which allows for peaceful coexistence and legitimates
23936-516: The process was blatant electoral fraud, with widespread violation of the laws and the constitution. In line with Payne's point of view, in 2017 two Spanish scholars, Manuel Álvarez Tardío and Roberto Villa García published the result of a major research work in which they concluded that the 1936 elections were rigged, a view disputed by Paul Preston, and other scholars such as Iker Itoiz Ciáurriz, who denounces their conclusions as revisionist "classic Francoist anti-republican tropes". On 19 February,
24112-562: The provincial government within Spain. The rest of the Basque districts managed to keep still for another 40 years a small status of self-government, definitely suppressed in 1876. The end of the Third Carlist War saw the Carlists strong in the Basque districts succumb to the Spanish troops led by King Alfonso XII of Spain and their reduced self-government was suppressed and converted into Economic Agreements . Navarre's status
24288-418: The quasi-confederal status of tax management in Navarre and the Basque Country to the total centralization in airport management. Part I of the Spanish Constitution encompasses Sections 10 to 55, establishing fundamental rights and duties. The scope of the rights recognised by the text is the largest in Spanish constitutional history. Scholars deem the enumeration open insofar as new rights can be included under
24464-586: The regulation of all rights in Chapter Two and Chapter Three to statutory law , which excludes administrative regulation ( reglamentos ). These statutes must respect the essential content of said rights. The fundamental rights and public freedoms included in Section One of Chapter Two can be invoked directly, and they ought to be regulated by means of Organic Law (which ensures greater political consensus). The creation of this statute cannot be delegated to
24640-596: The revolutionaries in Mieres and Sama , 58 religious buildings including churches, convents and part of the university at Oviedo were burned and destroyed, and over 100 priests were killed in the diocese. Franco, already General of Division and aide to the war minister, Diego Hidalgo , was put in command of the operations directed to suppress the violent insurgency. Troops of the Spanish Army of Africa carried this out, with General Eduardo López Ochoa as commander in
24816-476: The right to a preferential and summary procedure in the ordinary courts. Once this procedure is exhausted, citizens may lodge an individual appeal for protection (recurso de amparo) , a last instance unique to Spanish constitutional law and created in 1978 that, once exhausted, allows for an appeal before the European Court of Human Rights . This scope of additional protection reinforces the guarantees of
24992-419: The role of precedent), and sovereignty is a contentious one that influences government and law in the present day. The king of León, Alfonso V , decreed the Fuero de León (1017), considered the earliest laws governing territorial and local life, as it applied to the entire kingdom, with certain provisions for the city of León. The various Basque provinces also generally regarded their fueros as tantamount to
25168-522: The situation in western Andalucia was stable enough to allow Franco to organise a column (some 15,000 men at its height), under the command of then Lieutenant-Colonel Juan Yagüe , which would march through Extremadura towards Madrid. On 11 August Mérida was taken , and on 15 August Badajoz , thus joining both nationalist-controlled areas. Additionally, Mussolini ordered a voluntary army, the Corpo Truppe Volontarie (CTV) of fully motorised units (some 12,000 Italians), to Seville, and Hitler added to them
25344-447: The substantial independence of the hereditary Basque Jauntxo families as the origin for their privileges. In practice, distinct fueros for specific classes, estates, towns, or regions usually arose out of feudal power politics. Some historians believe monarchs were forced to concede some traditions in exchange for the general acknowledgment of his or her authority, that monarchs granted fueros to reward loyal subjection, or (especially in
25520-405: The substitution of the archaic gualda (" weld -colored") for the plain amarillo (yellow) in the description of the flag of Spain . The constitution was approved by the Cortes Generales on 31 October 1978, and by the Spanish people in a referendum on 6 December 1978. 91.81% of voters supported the new constitution. Finally, it was sanctioned by King Juan Carlos on 27 December in
25696-411: The time civil war began, Franco had already become a major general and would soon be a generalissimo , while none of his higher-ranking fellow cadets had managed to get beyond the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Franco was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant in June 1912 at age 19. Two years later, he obtained a commission to Morocco. Spanish efforts to occupy the new African protectorate provoked
25872-763: The turn of the first millennium—governed themselves by a native set of rules , different from Roman and Gothic law but with an ever-increasing imprint of them. Typically their laws, arising from regional traditions and practices, were kept and transmitted orally. Because of this oral tradition, the Basque-language regions preserved their specific laws longer than did those Pyrenean regions that adopted Romance languages. For example, Navarrese law developed along less feudal lines than those of surrounding realms. The Fors de Bearn are another example of Pyrenean law. Two sayings address this legal idiosyncrasy: "en Navarra hubo antes leyes que reyes," and "en Aragón antes que rey hubo ley," both meaning that law developed and existed before
26048-435: The uprising. The situation reached a point of no return and as presented to Franco by Mola, the coup was unavoidable, and he had to choose a side. He decided to join the rebels and was given the task of commanding the Army of Africa . A privately owned DH 89 De Havilland Dragon Rapide , flown by two British pilots, Cecil Bebb and Hugh Pollard , was chartered in England on 11 July to take Franco to Africa. The coup underway
26224-580: The war, rape , torture , and summary executions committed by soldiers under Franco's command were used as a means of retaliation and to repress political dissent. The war was marked by foreign intervention on behalf of both sides. Franco's Nationalists were supported by Fascist Italy , which sent the Corpo Truppe Volontarie and by Nazi Germany , which sent the Condor Legion . Italian aircraft stationed on Majorca bombed Barcelona 13 times, dropping 44 tons of bombs aimed at civilians. These attacks were requested by General Franco as retribution against
26400-466: The word fueros most often refers to the historic and contemporary fueros or charters of certain regions, especially of the Basque regions . The equivalent for French usage is fors , applying to the northern regions of the Pyrenees. The whole central and western Pyrenean region was inhabited by the Basques in the early Middle Ages within the Duchy of Vasconia . The Basques and the Pyrenean peoples—as Romance language replaced Basque in many areas by
26576-536: The world quickly launched a full scale propaganda campaign in support of the Popular Front. The Communist International (Comintern) immediately reinforced its activity, sending to Spain its Secretary-General, the Bulgarian Georgi Dimitrov , and the Italian Palmiro Togliatti , chief of the Communist Party of Italy . From August onward, aid from the Soviet Union began; by February 1937 two ships per day arrived at Spain's Mediterranean ports carrying munitions, rifles, machine guns, hand grenades, artillery, and trucks. With
26752-446: Was a naval officer and diplomat who married María Isabel Pascual del Pobil. Ramón was an internationally known aviator and a Freemason , originally with leftist political leanings. He was also the second sibling to die, killed in an air accident on a military mission in 1938. Franco's father was a naval officer who reached the rank of vice admiral ( intendente general ). When Franco was fourteen, his father moved to Madrid following
26928-474: Was a Spanish military general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 1939 to 1975 as a dictator, assuming the title Caudillo . This period in Spanish history, from the Nationalist victory to Franco's death, is commonly known as Francoist Spain or as the Francoist dictatorship. Born in Ferrol, Galicia , into an upper-class military family, Franco served in
27104-405: Was able, with this small squadron of aircraft, to initiate an air bridge that carried 1,500 soldiers of the Army of Africa to Seville , where these troops helped to ensure rebel control of the city. He successfully negotiated with Germany, and Italy for more military support, and above all for more aircraft. On 25 July aircraft began to arrive in Tetouan and on 5 August Franco was able to break
27280-410: Was above his rank, but Franco was still unhappy that he was stuck in a position he disliked. The prime minister wrote in his diary that it was probably more prudent to have Franco away from Madrid. In 1932, the Jesuits, who were in charge of many schools throughout the country, were banned and had all their property confiscated. The army was further reduced, and landowners were expropriated. Home rule
27456-409: Was ambiguous as to the actual recognition of separate identities, coming to be known as café para todos , or 'coffee for everyone'. However, the provincial chartered governments ( Diputación Foral / Foru Aldundia ) in the Basque districts were restored, getting back significant powers. Other powers held historically by the chartered governments ("Diputación") were transferred to the new government of
27632-699: Was born on 4 December 1892 in the Calle Frutos Saavedra in Ferrol , Galicia, into a seafaring family. He was baptised thirteen days later at the military church of San Francisco, with the baptismal name Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo. After relocating to Galicia , the Franco family was involved in the Spanish Navy , and over the span of two centuries produced naval officers for six uninterrupted generations (including several admirals), down to Franco's father Nicolás Franco Salgado-Araújo [ es ] (22 November 1855 – 22 February 1942). His mother, María del Pilar Bahamonde y Pardo de Andrade [ gl ] (15 October 1865 – 28 February 1934),
27808-444: Was contacted, and a secret meeting was held within La Esperanza forest on Tenerife to discuss starting a military coup. An obelisk (which has subsequently been removed) commemorating this historic meeting was erected at the site in a clearing at Las Raíces in Tenerife. Outwardly, Franco maintained an ambiguous attitude until nearly July. On 23 June 1936, he wrote to the head of the government, Casares Quiroga , offering to quell
27984-439: Was decided that Franco was to be commander-in-chief (this unified command was opposed only by Cabanellas), and, after some discussion, with no more than a lukewarm agreement from Queipo de Llano and from Mola, also head of government. He was, doubtlessly, helped to this primacy by the fact that, in late July, Hitler had decided that all of Germany's aid to the Nationalists would go to Franco. Mola had been somewhat discredited as
28160-418: Was devastated by the closing of his academy; nevertheless, he continued his service in the Republican Army . His career was boosted after the right-wing CEDA and PRR won the 1933 election , empowering him to lead the suppression of the 1934 uprising in Asturias . Franco was briefly elevated to Chief of Army Staff before the 1936 election moved the leftist Popular Front into power, relegating him to
28336-417: Was divided into départements , based on administrative and ideological concerns , not tradition. In the French Basque Country , what little remained of self-government was suppressed in 1790 during the French Revolution and the new administrative arrangement, and was followed by the interruption of the customary cross-border trade between the Basque districts (holding minor internal customs or duties),
28512-407: Was exercised for the first time of the current democratic period in 2014 when King Juan Carlos abdicated in favor of his son. The Organic Act 3/2014 made effective the abdication of the King. A Royal decree of the same year also modified the Royal Decree of 1987 which establishes the titles of the Royal family and the Regents and arranged that the outgoing King and Queen shall conserve their titles. And
28688-409: Was from an upper-middle-class Roman Catholic family. Her father, Ladislao Bahamonde Ortega, was the commissar of naval equipment at the Port of El Ferrol . Franco's parents married in 1890 in the Church of San Francisco in El Ferrol. The young Franco spent much of his childhood with his two brothers, Nicolás and Ramón , and his two sisters, María del Pilar and María de la Paz. His brother Nicolás
28864-416: Was given a command in A Coruña . Franco avoided involvement in José Sanjurjo 's attempted coup that year, and even wrote a hostile letter to Sanjurjo expressing his anger over the attempt. As a result of Azaña's military reform , in January 1933 Franco was relegated from first to 24th in the list of brigadiers. The same year, on 17 February he was given the military command of the Balearic Islands . The post
29040-400: Was granted to Catalonia, with a local parliament and a president of its own. In June 1933 Pope Pius XI issued the encyclical Dilectissima Nobis (Our Dearly Beloved), "On Oppression of the Church of Spain", in which he criticised the anti-clericalism of the Republican government. The elections held in October 1933 resulted in a centre-right majority. The political party with the most votes
29216-414: Was itself split into two columns, one commanded by General Juan Yagüe and the other commanded by Colonel José Varela . From 24 July a coordinating junta , the National Defence Junta , was established, based at Burgos . Nominally led by Cabanellas, as the most senior general, it initially included Mola, three other generals, and two colonels; Franco was later added in early August. On 21 September it
29392-427: Was less altered in 1876 than that of Gipuzkoa, Biscay, and Álava, due to the separate agreement signed in 1841 by officials of the Government of Navarre with the Spanish government accepting the transformation of the kingdom into a Spanish province. Despite capitulation agreements acknowledging specific administrative and economic prerogatives, attempts of the Spanish government to bypass them spread malaise and anger in
29568-425: Was patchy but less widespread, since the Basque specific nobility only took hold in northern areas ( Ayala , etc.). Biscaynes , as nobles, were theoretically excluded from torture and from the need to serve in the Spanish army, unless called for the defence of their own territory ( Don Quixote 's character, Sancho Panza , remarked humorously that writing and reading and being Biscayne was enough to be secretary to
29744-413: Was precipitated by the assassination of the right-wing opposition leader Calvo Sotelo in retaliation for the murder of assault guard José Castillo , which had been committed by a group headed by a civil guard and composed of assault guards and members of the socialist militias. On 17 July, one day earlier than planned, the Army of Africa rebelled, detaining their commanders. On 18 July, Franco published
29920-639: Was proclaimed by Catalan nationalist leader Lluis Companys , but it lasted just ten hours. Despite an attempt at a general stoppage in Madrid , other strikes did not endure. This left the striking Asturian miners to fight alone. In several mining towns in Asturias, local unions gathered small arms and were determined to see the strike through. It began on the evening of 4 October, with the miners occupying several towns, attacking and seizing local Civil and Assault Guard barracks. Thirty-four priests, six young seminarists with ages between 18 and 21, and several businessmen and civil guards were summarily executed by
30096-406: Was seen by his Moroccan troops as a spiritual event – they believed Franco to be blessed with baraka or protected by God. He was recommended for promotion to major and to receive Spain's highest honour for gallantry, the coveted Cruz Laureada de San Fernando . Both proposals were denied, with the 23-year-old Franco's young age being given as the reason for denial. Franco appealed the decision to
30272-401: Was sent to the Canary Islands to serve as the islands' military commander, an appointment perceived by him as a destierro (banishment). Meanwhile, a conspiracy led by General Mola was taking shape. Interested in the parliamentary immunity granted by a seat at the Cortes, Franco intended to stand as candidate of the Right Bloc alongside José Antonio Primo de Rivera for the by-election in
30448-408: Was short and was bullied for his small size. His grades were average; though his good memory meant he seldom struggled academically, his small stature was a hindrance in physical tests. He graduated in July 1910 as a second lieutenant, standing 251st out of 312 cadets in his class, though this might have had less to do with his grades than with his small size and young age. Stanley Payne observes that by
30624-401: Was the Confederación Español de Derechas Autónomas ("CEDA"), but president Alcalá-Zamora declined to invite the leader of the CEDA, Gil Robles, to form a government. Instead, he invited the Radical Republican Party 's Alejandro Lerroux to do so. Despite receiving the most votes, CEDA was denied cabinet positions for nearly a year. After a year of intense pressure, CEDA, the largest party in
30800-438: Was the powerful Mesta organization, composed of wealthy sheepherders, who were granted vast grazing rights in Andalusia after that land was reconquered by Spanish Christians from the Muslims ( see Reconquista ). Lyle N. McAlister writes in Spain and Portugal in the New World that the Mesta's fuero helped impede the economic development of southern Spain . This resulted in a lack of opportunity, and Spaniards emigrated to
30976-422: Was without a post and under surveillance. In December 1931, a new reformist, liberal, and democratic constitution was declared. It included strong provisions enforcing a broad secularisation of the Catholic country, which included the abolishing of Catholic schools and charities, which many moderate committed Catholics opposed. At this point, once the constituent assembly had fulfilled its mandate of approving
#542457