List of Constitutions of Spain


Spain has proclaimed a number of Constitutions. The current Constitution of Spain of 1978 is the culmination of the Spanish transition to democracy.
The idea of a national constitution for Spain arose from the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen initiated as a result of the French Revolution. The earliest constitution was written and promulgated in 1808, when Napoleon invaded Spain, Bourbon monarchs Ferdinand VII and Charles IV abdicated, and Napoleon placed his brother Joseph Bonaparte on the throne. A constitution was drafted and the Junta Española Joseph I signed it. A major feature of the Constitution of 1808 was the provision for representation by Spanish America on an equal basis with the peninsula. Although signed by Spanish aristocrats and the new monarch, few in Spain recognized this document.
With the eruption of the Peninsular War to oust the French invaders. A new Cortes was summoned and met at Cádiz, which included Spanish American and Philippine delegates, and promulgated the Spanish Constitution of 1812. This constitution is generally recognized as Spain's first written constitution, since it was drafted freely by delegates of the Spanish Empire.
During the Francoist Spain, there were many attempts to create stable institutions that did not emanate from Fransisco Franco as they did in the post-war period. The Fundamental Laws of the Realm were a constitution in parts enacted through nearly 20 years starting in the 1950s. They established the very institutions that would later, under Juan Carlos I and Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez, commit "constitutional suicide" and pass the Political Reform Act, starting the Spanish transition to democracy. Most of those Laws theoretically provided for a quite free state, but ultimately the power of the Caudillo was supreme.
Finally, the constitution in force is similar to the British democratic monarchy model, but the 2014 Catalan self-determination referendum has provoked calls for an entirely democratic federal republican model.
Below there is a comprehensive table, but this is an overview:
NameIn forceForm of governmentDemocracyRepealedObservations
Bayonne Constitution1808–1814Constitutional monarchyBicameral parliament with semi-elective lower house.Peninsular War lost by Joseph I.Not recognized by the Spanish patriots during the war. Most of its contents were to be enacted through the 1810s, so it did not actually come into effect. However, it provided for representation from Spanish America and the Philippines.
Constitution of 18121812–1814
1820–1823
1836–1837		Constitutional monarchyElected parliament.Ferdinand VII reinstated absolutism in 1814 and again in 1823. Superseded in 1837.Weakened the power of the monarch, strengthened the role of the legislative Cortes, gave representation to Spanish America and the Philippines, extended equal citizenship to all without African ancestry, universal manhood suffrage, established public education from primary school through university, freedom of the press, maintained Roman Catholicism as the state religion.
Royal Statute of 1834
Royal Charter		1834–1836Constitutional monarchyBicameral parliament with elected lower house and appointed Senate.Regent forced to reinstate the 1812 Constitution after a military pronunciamiento.Granted by Maria Christina in order to get support from the liberals in the First Carlist War.
Constitution of 18371837–1845Constitutional monarchySuperseded.Partially suspended by Baldomero Espartero to rule by decree between 1840 and 1843.
Constitution of 18451845–1869Constitutional monarchyParliament elected by censitary suffrage.Isabella II and her Government overthrown in the Glorious Revolution of 1868.Doctrinaire attempt to exploit the plots against the young Isabella and the Regency in order to reinforce the monarchy
Constitution of 1856Not enactedConstitutional monarchyParliament elected by censitary suffrage.Scrapped by the new government.Passed by the Parliament but not enacted by Isabella II as moderate liberals returned to power.
Constitution of 18691869–1876Constitutional monarchyParliament elected by universal male suffrage.Republic declared by the Cortes after the abdication of Amadeo I.An interim compromise between royalist conservatives and republican progressives
Constitution of 1873Not enactedFederal republicUnicameral parliament elected by universal male suffrage.Arsenio Martínez Campos led a successful pronunciamiento restoring the Bourbon monarchy.Republic collapsed before even passing the Constitution, mainly due to wide disagreement over the federalism vs centralism issue.
Constitution of 18761876–1931Constitutional monarchyParliament elected, firstly by censitary, then universal male suffrage from the 1890s.Republic instated after Alphonse XIII fled Spain.While theoretically democratic, elections were routinely rigged by the governing party, and in practice power was shared by two alternating parties. During Primo de Rivera's dictatorship many of its articles were suspended in a de facto dictatorship.
Constitution of 19311931–1939Parliamentary republicUnicameral parliament, firstly with universal male suffrage, then female suffrage from 1933.Civil War lost by the Republican side.During the Civil War it was abolished by the Nationalists and widely disregarded in the Republican zone.
Fundamental Laws of the Realm1938–1978Military dictatorshipPartially elected unicameral parliament with little powers of its own.Superseded when Parliament adopted the Constitution of 1978.A set of laws enacted by the caudillo Francisco Franco in order to shape his political regime and adapt it to changes. The individual laws passed under Franco are: Fuero del Trabajo, Ley Constitutiva de las Cortes, Fuero de los Españoles, Ley del Referéndum Nacional, Ley de Sucesión en la Jefatura del Estado, Ley de Principios del Movimiento Nacional, and Ley Orgánica del Estado.
The Law for Political Reform of 1977, last of the Fundamental Laws and passed after Franco's death, started the Spanish transition to democracy.
Constitution of 19781978–presentConstitutional monarchyParliamentary democracy with bicameral, elective parliament.Currently in force.First in Spanish constitutional history not to grant any emergency power to the Head of State.