GOVERNMENT
Parliamentary
democracy was restored following the death of General Franco in
1975, who had ruled since the end of the civil war in 1939. The
1978 constitution established Spain as a parliamentary monarchy,
with the prime minister responsible to the bicameral Cortes (Congress
of Deputies and Senate) elected every 4 years. On February 23,
1981, rebel elements among the security forces seized the Cortes
and tried to impose a military-backed government. However, the
great majority of the military forces remained loyal to King Juan
Carlos, who used his personal authority to put down the bloodless
coup attempt.
In October
1982, the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), led by Felipe
Gonzalez, swept both the Congress of Deputies and Senate, winning
an absolute majority. Gonzalez and the PSOE ruled for the next
13 years. During that period, Spain joined the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Community.
In March
1996, Jose Maria Aznar's Popular Party (PP) won a plurality of
votes. Aznar moved to decentralize powers to the regions and liberalize
the economy, with a program of privatization, labor market reform,
and measures designed to increase competition in selected markets.
During Aznar's first term, Spain fully integrated into European
institutions, qualifying for the European Monetary Union. During
this period, Spain participated, along with the United States
and other NATO allies, in military operations in the former Yugoslavia.
President Aznar and the PP won reelection in March 2000, obtaining
absolute majorities in both houses of parliament.
After
the terrorist attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001, President
Aznar became a key ally in the fight against terrorism. Spain
backed the military action against the Taliban in Afghanistan
and took a leadership role within the European Union (EU) in pushing
for increased international cooperation on terrorism. The Aznar
government, with a rotating seat on the UN Security Council, supported
the intervention in Iraq.
Spanish parliamentary elections on March 14, 2004 came only three days after a devastating terrorist attack on Madrid commuter rail lines that killed 191 and wounded over 1,400. With large voter turnout, PSOE won the election and its leader, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, took office on April 17, 2004. Carrying out campaign promises, the Zapatero government immediately withdrew Spanish forces from Iraq but has continued to support Iraq reconstruction efforts. The Zapatero government has supported coalition efforts in Afghanistan, including maintaining troop support for 2004 and 2005 elections, supported reconstruction efforts in Haiti, sent troops to UNIFIL in Lebanon, and cooperated on counterterrorism issues and many other issues of importance to the U.S. Zapatero was re-elected for a second term as President on March 9, 2008.
Local
Government
The 1978 constitution authorized the creation of regional autonomous
governments. By 1985, 17 regions covering all of peninsular Spain,
the Canaries, and the Balearic Islands had negotiated autonomy
statutes with the central government. In 1979, the first autonomous
elections were held in the Basque and Catalan regions, which have
the strongest regional traditions by virtue of their history and
separate languages. Since then, autonomous governments have been
created in the remainder of the 17 regions. The central government
continues to devolve powers to the regional governments, which
will eventually have full responsibility for health care and education,
as well as other social programs.
Terrorism
The Government of Spain is involved in a long-running campaign
against Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA), a terrorist organization
founded in 1959 and dedicated to promoting Basque independence.
ETA targets Spanish security forces, military personnel, Spanish
Government officials, and politicians of the Popular Party and
the Socialist Party (PSOE.) The group has carried out numerous
bombings against Spanish Government facilities and economic targets,
including a car bomb assassination attempt on then-opposition
leader Aznar in 1995, in which his armored car was destroyed but
he was unhurt. The Spanish Government attributes over 800 deaths
to ETA terrorism since its campaign of violence began. In recent
years, the government has had more success in controlling ETA,
due in part to increased security cooperation with French authorities.
In November 1999, ETA ended a cease-fire it declared in September 1998. Following the end of that cease-fire, ETA conducted a campaign of violence and has been blamed for the deaths of some 50 Spanish citizens and officials. Each attack has been followed by massive anti-ETA demonstrations around the country, clearly demonstrating that the majority of Spaniards, including the majority of Spain's Basque populace, have no tolerance for continued ETA violence. In March 2006, ETA declared another cease-fire, which it ended in June 2007 as a number of bombings and assassinations continued. In December 2007, two undercover Spanish police officers were killed in Capbreton, in France's southwestern region, by suspected ETA gunmen. Days before Spain's general elections in March 2008, former councilman Isaias Carrasco was murdered outside of his home by an ETA gunman. It was seen by many as a political move by ETA to try and influence the elections. Ignacio Uria Mendizabal, head of the Altuna y Uria company, was assassinated on December 3, 2008. The company was involved in the construction of a high-speed rail network in the region, a project opposed by ETA.
The government pursues a vigorous counterterrorist policy and has worked closely
with its international allies to foil several suspected ETA attacks. In May
2008, Francisco Javier Lopez Pena, the political-military head of ETA, was
arrested in Bordeaux. In November 2008, French authorities arrested reputed ETA
military chief Miguel De Garikoitz Aspiazu Rubina, alias "Txeroki", closely followed by the arrest of his successor on December 8, 2008. These arrests struck a severe blow to the leadership of ETA. France and Spain have stepped up cooperation to crack down on ETA since a special accord was signed in January 2008 allowing Spanish agents to operate in southwestern France. As of mid-December 2008, security services had arrested 158 alleged ETA members or associates, including 33 in France.
Al Qaeda is known to operate cells in Spain. On March 11, 2004, only three days before national elections, 10 bombs were detonated on crowded commuter trains during rush hour. Three were deactivated by security forces and one was found unexploded. Evidence quickly surfaced that jihadist terrorists with possible ties to the Al Qaeda network were responsible for the attack that killed 191 people. Spanish investigative services and the judicial system have aggressively sought to arrest and prosecute suspected Al Qaeda members and actively cooperate with foreign governments to diminish the transnational terrorist threat. A Spanish court convicted 18 individuals in September 2005 for their role in supporting Al Qaeda, and Spanish police disrupted numerous Islamist extremist cells operating in the country. The trial against 29 people for their alleged participation in the Madrid March 11, 2004 terrorist attack started in February 2007. One of the 29 was absolved during the trial. The prosecutor asked for sentences as high as 30,000 years of jail for some of them. In October 2007 three of the suspects were convicted of murder for their roles in the 2004 attack and received over 42,000 years in prison. Overall, 21 of 28 defendants were found guilty of some offense for their role in the bombings. In July 2008 the Spanish Supreme Court announced the acquittal on appeal of four of the 21 convicted defendants. The Supreme Court also upheld the lower court's acquittal of the suspected mastermind of the attacks, agreeing with the lower court's decision that because he had already been sentenced in Italy for belonging to a terrorist organization he could not be tried for the same crime twice. In a separate case, the Supreme Court overturned 14 of the 20 convictions, and reduced four other sentences, of a cell sentenced in February 2008 for plotting to truck-bomb the National Court.
In January 2008, Spanish authorities in Barcelona arrested 14 people believed to
be connected to a Pakistani terrorist cell allegedly sympathetic to Al Qaeda.
The group, potentially linked to Islamic terrorist activities, was believed to
be on the verge of a terrorist bombing campaign against Barcelona's
transportation network and possibly other targets in Europe. An informant
working for the French intelligence services notified Spanish authorities of the
pending attack.
Principal
Government Officials
Chief of State, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces--King Juan
Carlos I
President of the Government (Prime Minister)--Jose Luis Rodriguez
Zapatero
Minister of Foreign Affairs--Miguel Angel Moratinos
Ambassador to the United States--Jorge Dezcallar
Spain
maintains an embassy
in the United States at 2375 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington,
DC 20037 (tel. 202-728-2340) and consulates in many larger U.S.
cities.
Type: Constitutional monarchy (Juan Carlos I proclaimed King November 22, 1975).
Constitution: 1978.
Branches: Executive--president of government nominated by monarch, subject to approval by democratically elected Congress of Deputies. Legislative--bicameral Cortes: a 350-seat Congress of Deputies (elected by the d'Hondt system of proportional representation) and a Senate. Four senators are elected in each of 47 peninsular provinces, 16 are elected from the three island provinces, and Ceuta and Melilla elect two each; this accounts for 208 senators. The parliaments of the 17 autonomous regions also elect one senator as well as one additional senator for every 1 million inhabitants within their territory (about 20 senators). Judicial--Constitutional Tribunal has jurisdiction over constitutional issues. Supreme Tribunal heads system comprising territorial, provincial, regional, and municipal courts.
Subdivisions: 47 peninsular and three island provinces; two enclaves on the Mediterranean coast of Morocco (Ceuta and Melilla) and three island groups along that coast--Alhucemas, Penon de Velez de la Gomera, and the Chafarinas Islands.
Political parties: Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), Popular Party (PP), and the United Left (IU) coalition. Key regional parties are the Convergence and Union (CIU) in Catalonia and the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) in the Basque country.
