Senate of Spain explained

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Senate of Spain
Native Name:Spanish; Castilian: Senado de España
Coa Pic:Coat of Arms of the Senate of Spain.svg
Coa Res:180px
House Type:Upper house
Foundation:1834 (disbanded 1923–1977)
1977 (reinstituted)
Voting System1:Limited voting (208 seats)
Election by the legislatures of the autonomous communities (57 seats)
Party1:(PP)
Election1:17 August 2023
Party2:(PP)
Election2:17 August 2023
Party3:(PSOE)
Election3:17 August 2023
Leader4 Type:Majority leader
Party4:(PP)
Election4:30 November 2023
Leader5 Type:Minority leader
Party5:(PSOE)
Election5:27 November 2023
Members:266
Structure1:Senado de España - XV legislatura.svg
Structure1 Res:280px
Political Groups1:Government (93)

Confidence and supply (24)

Opposition (149)

Session Room:Hemiciclo del nuevo edificio del Senado de España (2012).jpg
Rules:Senate Standing Orders

The Senate (Spanish; Castilian: Senado) is the upper house of the, which along with the Congress of Deputies – the lower chamber – comprises the Parliament of the Kingdom of Spain. The Senate meets in the Palace of the Senate in Madrid. The presiding officer of the Senate is the president of the Senate, who is elected by the members at the first sitting after each national election.

The composition of the Senate is established in Part III of the Spanish Constitution. Each senator represents a province, an autonomous city or an autonomous community. Each mainland province, regardless of its population size, is equally represented by four senators; in the insular provinces, the big islands are represented by three senators and the minor islands are represented by a single senator. Likewise, the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla elect two senators each. This direct election results in the election of 208 senators by the citizens. In addition, the regional legislatures also designate their own representatives, one senator for each autonomous community and another for every million residents, resulting in a total of 58 additional senators.

The Spanish Senate is constitutionally described as a territorial chamber. Consequently, although in general its powers are similar to those of the Congress of Deputies, it is endowed with exceptional powers such as authorising the Government to apply direct rule to a region or to dissolve local government councils.

Intensive debates about reforming the Senate's function and purpose have been going on for many years without any resolution.

History

See main article: Spanish parliamentarism. The first Spanish Constitution, the Spanish Constitution of 1812, established a unicameral legislative, therefore, an upper Chamber did not exist.

The Senate was first established under the Royal Statute of 1834 approved by Queen Regent Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies under the denomination of House of Peers but it did not last long and in 1837, under the Constitution of that year, the upper house acquired the denomination of Senate.

It remained under the regimes of the constitutions of 1845, 1856, 1869 and 1876. It was composed, at that latter time, of three main categories: senators by their own right, senators for life and elected senators. This house, along with the Congress of Deputies, was suppressed after the coup of General Miguel Primo de Rivera in 1923.

After the restoration of democracy during the Second Spanish Republic (1931-1939) the new regime opted for a unicameral system, which was continued under the Francoist dictatorship.

Only after the Spanish transition to democracy in 1977 was it re-established.

Role

The Spanish parliamentary system is bicameral but asymmetric. The Congress of Deputies has more independent functions, and it can also override most Senate measures. Only the Congress can grant or revoke confidence in the Prime Minister.

Either house may propose an ordinary law (or bill, Spanish; Castilian: proyecto de ley). A bill passed by Congress can be amended or vetoed by the Senate in which case the bill is then sent back to the lower house, which can override these objections by an absolute majority vote. Organic laws, which govern basic civil rights and regional devolution, need an absolute majority of both congress and senate to pass.

The process for constitutional amendments is more complicated: the rule is to require a three fifths (60%) of both houses, but if the Senate does not achieve such a supermajority and a joint congress-senate committee fails to resolve the issues, the Congress may force the amendment through with a two-thirds vote as long as an absolute majority of the Senate was in favour. But for some specific types of amendments including those related to most clauses related to human rights, both houses must approve of the amendment by a two thirds vote, and an election must be held and the amendment must pass by a two thirds vote a second time, and if that is approved, the people must vote for the amendment in a referendum by majority vote.

The Senate has certain exclusive functions including

Senate reform has been a topic of discussion since the early days of Spanish democracy.One proposal would advance the federalization of Spain by remaking the Senate to represent the autonomous communities of Spain.

Organization

Senators form groups along party lines. Parties with fewer than ten senators form the Mixed Group. If the membership of an existing group falls below six during a session, it is merged into the Mixed Group at the next session. For example, Coalición Canaria lost its senate caucus in 2008 after electoral losses reduced its group from six to two. The Basque Nationalist Party, falling from seven to four, "borrowed" senators from the ruling Socialist Party to form their group; in exchange, they supported the election of socialist Javier Rojo as President of the Senate.

Legally, 133 seats are required for an absolute majority, vacant seats notwithstanding.

Elections to the Senate

To date, senate elections have coincided with elections to the lower house, but the prime minister may advise the king to call elections for one house only. While the Congress of Deputies is chosen by party list proportional representation, the members of the senate are chosen in two distinct ways: popular election by limited voting and appointment from regional legislatures.

Directly elected members

Most members of the senate (currently 208 of 266) are directly elected by the people. Each province elects four senators without regard to population. Insular provinces are treated specially. The larger islands of the Balearics (Baleares) and Canaries (Canarias)—Mallorca, Gran Canaria, and Tenerife—are assigned three seats each, and the smaller islands—Menorca, Ibiza–Formentera, Fuerteventura, Gomera, Hierro, Lanzarote and La Palma—one each; Ceuta and Melilla are assigned two seats each.This allocation is heavily weighted in favor of small provinces; Madrid, with its 6.5 million people, and Soria, with 90,000 inhabitants, are each represented by four senators.

In non-insular constituencies, each party nominates three candidates. Candidates' names are organized in columns by party on a large (DIN A3 or larger) ochre-colored ballot called a sábana or bedsheet.

Each voter may mark up to three candidates' names, from any party. This is the only occasion when Spanish voters vote for individuals rather than a party list. Panachage is allowed, but typically voters cast all three votes for candidates of a single party. As a result, the four senators are usually the three candidates from the most popular party and the first placed candidate from the next most popular.

Before 2011, a party could not choose the order of its candidates on the ballot paper; candidates were sorted alphabetically by surname. When a party did not get all three of its candidates elected, this arrangement favored candidates with surnames early in the alphabet. This was the case for 2nd placed parties in every province and for both parties in tight races when voters did not vote for three candidates of the same party (panachage).

Regional legislatures-appointed members

The legislative assembly of each autonomous community of Spain appoints a senators to represent the community, with one senator per one million citizens, rounded up. Demographic growth increased the combined size of the regional appointed senators from 51 to 57 since 1983.

Conventionally, the proportions of the regional senators mimic their legislative assemblies. However, autonomous communities have considerable leeway, and a motion to appoint the regional senators often requires no more than a plurality:

The distribution after the 2021 regional elections is:

Autonomous CommunityPopulation (2018)SenatorsSenator/pop.-ratioDistribution
Andalusia8,384,4089931,601
351
Aragon1,308,7282654,364
11
Asturias1,028,2442514,122
11
Balearic Islands1,128,9082564,454
11
Basque Country2,199,0883733,029
111
Canary Islands2,127,6853709,228
111
Cantabria580,2291580,229
1
Castile and León2,409,1643803,055
12
Castilla–La Mancha2,026,8073675,602
21
Catalonia7,600,0658950,008
332
Extremadura1,072,8632536,432
11
Galicia2,701,7433900,581
12
La Rioja315,6751315,675
1
Madrid6,578,0797939,726
115
Murcia1,478,5092739,255
11
Navarre647,5541647,554
1
Valencian Community5,057,3536842,892
1221
Total46,551,45257816,692Source: http://www.senado.es/web/composicionorganizacion/senadores/composicionsenado/senadoresenactivo/index.html

Composition

The last election was held on 10 November 2019. The composition of the 14th Senate is:

Parliamentary groupElectedTotal
People's Party Group in the Senate12024144
Basque Group in the Senate4 1 5
Vacant0 2 2
Total20858266

Committees

Committee[1] Chair(s)Term
Agriculture, Fisheries and FoodMaría Teresa MacíasPSOE2019–present
Foreign AffairsAntonio Gutiérrez LimonesPSOE2019–present
Ibero-American AffairsCésar Alejandro Mogo ZaroPSOE2019–present
Science, Innovation and UniversitiesFrancisco Javier de Lucas MartínPSOE2019–present
ConstitutionalAntonio Magdaleno AlegríaPSOE2019–present
International Cooperation for DevelopmentElena DiegoPSOE2019–present
Culture and SportManuel Escarda EscardaPSOE2019–present
DefencePilar Llop CuencaPSOE2019–present
Rights of Families, Childhood and AdolescenceMaría de los Ángeles Luna MoralesPSOE2019–present
Economy and BusinessJavier Garcinuño RamaPSOE2019–present
Education and Vocational TrainingJosé Asensi SabaterPSOE2019–present
Local AdministrationsMiguel Carmelo Dalmau BlancoPSOE2019–present
Public WorksJosé Fernández BlancoPSOE2019–present
Civil ServiceSalvador Vidal VarelaPSOE2019–present
General on Autonomous CommunitiesJoan Lerma BlascoPSOE2019–present
FinanceCosme Bonet BonetPSOE2019–present
EqualityJosefina Antonia Bueno AlonsoPSOE2019–present
IncompatibilitiesJulia María Liberal LiberalPSOE2019–present
Industry, Trade and TourismMarisa BustinduyPSOE2019–present
Home AffairsMaría Jesús Castro MateosPSOE2019–present
JusticeFrancisco Manuel Fajardo Palarea (PSOE)PSOE2019–present
NominationsManuel CruzPSOE2019–present
Rules
Comprehensive Disability PoliciesMaría Teresa Fernández MolinaPSOE2019–present
PetitionsMicaela NavarroPSOE2019–present
BudgetJosé Antonio MonagoPP2019–present
Health, Consumer Affairs and Social WelfareModesto Pose MesuraPSOE2019–present
Petitions by a CourtFélix Ortega FernándezPSOE2019–present
Labour, Migrations and Social SecurityAntonio Armando FerrerPSOE2019–present
Ecological TransitionMaría Isabel Moreno DuquePSOE2019–present

Presidents of the Senate of Spain

See also: President of the Senate of Spain and List of presidents of the Senate of Spain.

This is a list of the presidents of the Senate since the recovery of the upper house in 1977. To see previous presidents, look the full list of presidents of the Senate.

PortraitName
Term of officeTenure
width=125pxPartyLegislatureMonarch
Antonio Fontán
class=nowrap13 July 1977

2 January 1979		style=font-size:85%;Union of the
Democratic Centre		Constituent
Juan Carlos I

Cecilio Valverde
class=nowrap27 April 1979

31 August 1982		style=font-size:85%;Union of the
Democratic Centre		I
José Federico de Carvajal
18 November 1982

2 September 1989		Spanish Socialist
Workers' Party		II
III
Juan José Laborda
21 November 1989

9 January 1996		Spanish Socialist
Workers' Party		IV
V
Juan Ignacio Barrero
class=nowrap27 March 1996

8 February 1999		style=font-size:85%;People's PartyVI
Esperanza Aguirre
Countess consort of Murillo
8 February 1999

21 October 2002		People's Party
VII
Juan José Lucas
class=nowrap22 October 2002

20 January 2004		style=font-size:85%;People's Party
Javier Rojo
2 April 2004

27 September 2011		Spanish Socialist
Workers' Party		VIII
IX
Pío García-Escudero
4th Count of Badarán
13 December 2011

20 May 2019		People's PartyX
Felipe VI

XI
XII
Manuel Cruz
class=nowrap21 May 2019

2 December 2019		style=font-size:85%;Spanish Socialist
Workers' Party		XIII
Pilar Llop
class=nowrap3 December 2019

8 July 2021		style=font-size:85%;Spanish Socialist
Workers' Party		XIV
Ander Gil
class=nowrap12 July 2021

16 August 2023		style=font-size:85%;Spanish Socialist
Workers' Party		XIV
Pedro Rollán
class=nowrap17 August 2023

Incumbent		style=font-size:85%;People's PartyXV

Bibliography

External links

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Notes and References

  1. Web site: Senate' Committees Chairs. 30 July 2019. Senate of Spain. www.senado.es.

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