GOVERNMENT AND CONSTITUTION
1281
House of Aragon. Ferdinand V., 'The Catholic '
House of Habsburg. Charles I.
Philip II
rhilip III
Philip IV
Charles II
House of Bom Philip V Ferdinand VI. Charles III. Charles IV. . Ferdinand VII. .
1479
1516 1556 1598 1621 1665
1700 1746 1759 1788 1808
House of Bonaparte. Joseph Bonaparte .
House of Bourbon. Ferdinand VII., restored Isabella II. . Provisional Government Marshal Serrano, Regent
House of Savoy. Ainadeo
Republic 1873-75.
House of Bourbon. Alfonso XII. .
I Cristina (j>ro tern.) Alfonso XIII.
1808
1814 1833 1868 1869
1870
1886
1886
Government and Constitution. I. Central Government.
The present Constitution of Spain, drawn up by the Government and laid before a Cortes Constituyentes, elected for its ratification, Manh 27, 1S76, was proclaimed June 80, 1876. It enacts that Spain shall be a constitutional monarchy, the executive resting in the Kiug, and the power to make laws 'in the Cortes with the King.' The Cortes are composed of a Senate and Congress, equal in authority. There are three classes of senators — first, senators by their own right, or Senadores por derecho propio ; secondly, life senators nominated by the Crown — these two categories not to exceed 180 ; and thirdly, 180 senators, elected by the Corporations of State — that is, the communal and provincial States, the church, the universities, academies, &c. — and by the largest jtayers of contributions. Senators in their own right are the sons, if any, of the King and of. the immediate heir to the throne, who have attained their majority ; Grandees who are so in their own right and who can prove an annual renta of 60,000 pesetas, or 2,400£. ; captain- generals of the army ; admirals of the navy ; the Patriarca de las India* (the ' Patriarch of West Indies'), i.e., the Primate of Spain (the Bishop of Sion, head chaplain of the Koyal Household* and the archbishops ; the presi- dents of the Council of State, of the Supreme Tribunal, of the Tribunal de Cuentas del Reino, and of the Supreme Council of War and of the Navy after two years of office. The elective senators must be renewed by one-half every five years, and by totality every time the Monarch dissolves that part of the Cortes. The Congress is formed by deputies ' named in the electoral Juntas is the form the law determines,' in the proportion of one to every 50,000 souls of the population. According to a law of August 8, 1907, voting is compulsory for all males over the age of 25 : with a few unimportant exceptions. This law further enacts that all such voters must be registered on the voting list, possess full civil rights, and must have been residents of a Municipal district for at least 2 years. Members of Congress must be 25 years of age ; they are re-eligible indefinitely, the elections being for five years. Deputies to the number of 98 are elected by sent! in de liste in 28 large districts in which minorities may be duly represented. There are in all 417 deputies. The deputies cannot take State office pensions, and salaries; but the ministers and State officials of a salary higher than 15,003 pesetas are exempted from this law. Since April 1, 1920, senators and
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