Long-form name: Kingdom of Spain

Type: parliamentary monarchy

Capital: Madrid

Administrative divisions: 17 autonomous communities (comunidades autonomas, singular--comunidad autonoma); Andalucia, Aragon, Asturias, Canarias, Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y Leon, Cataluna, Communidad Valencia, Extremadura, Galicia, Islas Baleares, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, Navarra, Pais Vasco; note--there are five places of sovereignty on and off the coast of Morocco (Ceuta, Mellila, Islas Chafarinas, Penon de Alhucemas, and Penon de Velez de la Gomera) with administrative status unknown

Independence: 1492 (expulsion of the Moors and unification)

Constitution: 6 December 1978, effective 29 December 1978

Legal system: civil law system, with regional applications; does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

National holiday: National Day, 12 October

Executive branch: monarch, president of the government (prime minister), deputy prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet), Council of State

Legislative branch: bicameral The General Courts or National Assembly (Las Cortes Generales) consists of an upper house or Senate (Senado) and a lower house or Congress of Deputies (Congreso de los Diputados)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo)

Leaders: Chief of State--King JUAN CARLOS I (since 22 November 1975); Head of Government--Prime Minister Felipe GONZALEZ Marquez (since 2 December 1982); Deputy Prime Minister Narcis SERRA (since 13 March 1991)

Political parties and leaders: principal national parties, from right to left--Popular Party (PP), Jose Maria AZNAR; Popular Democratic Party (PDP), Luis DE GRANDES; Social Democratic Center (CDS), Adolfo SUAREZ Gonzalez; Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), Felipe GONZALEZ Marquez; Socialist Democracy Party (DS), Ricardo Garcia DAMBORENEA; Spanish Communist Party (PCE), Julio ANGUITA; chief regional parties-- Convergence and Unity (CiU), Jordi PUJOL Saley, in Catalonia; Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), Xabier ARZALLUS; Basque Solidarity (EA), Carlos GARAICOETXEA Urizza; Basque Popular Unity (HB), Jon IDIGORAS; Basque Left (EE), Kepa AULESTIA; Andalusian Party (PA), Pedro PACHECO; Independent Canary Group (AIC); Aragon Regional Party (PAR); Valencian Union (UV)

Suffrage: universal at age 18

Elections: Senate --last held 29 October 1989 (next to be held October 1993); results--NA; seats (208) PSOE 106, PP 79, CiU 10, PNV 4, HB 3, AIC 1, other 5; Congress of Deputies--last held 29 October 1989 (next to be held October 1993); results--PSOE 39.6%, PP 25.8%, CDS 9%, Communist-led coalition (IU) 9%, CiU 5%, Basque Nationalist Party 1.2%, HB 1%, Andalusian Party 1%, other 8.4%; seats--(350 total) PSOE 175, PP 106, CiU 18, IU 17, CDS 14, PNV 5, HB 4, other 11

Communists: PCE membership declined from a possible high of 160,000 in 1977 to roughly 60,000 in 1987; the party gained almost 1 million voters and 10 deputies in the 1989 election; voters came mostly from the disgruntled socialist left; remaining strength is in labor, where it dominates the Workers Commissions trade union (one of the country's two major labor centrals), which claims a membership of about 1 million; experienced a modest recovery in 1986 national election, nearly doubling the share of the vote it received in 1982

Other political or pressure groups: on the extreme left, the Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) and the First of October Antifascist Resistance Group (GRAPO) use terrorism to oppose the government; free labor unions (authorized in April 1977) include the Communist-dominated Workers Commissions (CCOO); the Socialist General Union of Workers (UGT), and the smaller independent Workers Syndical Union (USO); the Catholic Church; business and landowning interests; Opus Dei; university students

Member of: AG (observer), AsDB, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, CSCE, EBRD, EC, ECE, ECLAC, EIB, ESA, FAO, G-8, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), LORCS, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, OAS (observer), OECD, PCA, UN, UNAVEM, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Jaime de OJEDA; Chancery at 2700 15th Street NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone (202) 265-0190 or 0191; there are Spanish Consulates General in Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, and San Juan (Puerto Rico); US--Ambassador Joseph ZAPPALA; Embassy at Serrano 75, 28006 Madrid (mailing address is APO New York 09285); telephone [34] (1) 577-4000; there is a US Consulate General in Barcelona and a Consulate in Bilbao

Flag: three horizontal bands of red (top), yellow (double width), and red with the national coat of arms on the hoist side of the yellow band; the coat of arms includes the royal seal framed by the Pillars of Hercules which are the two promontories (Gibraltar and Ceuta) on either side of the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar

NOTE: The information regarding Spain on this page is re-published from the 1991 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Spain Government 1991 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Spain Government 1991 should be addressed to the CIA.