page_title: Politics of Spain
section_title: The Congress of Deputies
hierarchical_section_title: Politics of Spain / Legislature / The Congress of Deputies
caption_attribution_description: Palacio de las Cortes &#160;&#160;&#160; (Inventory)Native namePalacio de las Cortes de MadridLocationMadrid, Spain.Coordinates40°&#160;25′&#160;00″&#160;N, 3°&#160;41′&#160;59″&#160;W Established1843–1850Web pagehttp://www.congreso.es/portal/page/portal/Congreso/CongresoAuthority control : Q9054619 VIAF:&#8201;173679168 ULAN:&#8201;500302409 LCCN:&#8201;sh2013000847 GND:&#8201;4228303-6 BNE:&#8201;XX189659 WorldCat institution QS:P195,Q9054619IMG_0180
context_page_description: The politics of Spain takes place under the framework established by the Constitution of 1978. Spain is established as a social and democratic sovereign country wherein the national sovereignty is vested in the people, from which the powers of the state emanate.
  The form of government in Spain is a parliamentary monarchy, that is, a social representative democratic constitutional monarchy in which the monarch is the head of state, while the prime minister—whose official title is "President of the Government"—is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the Government, which is integrated by the prime minister, the deputy prime ministers and other ministers, which collectively form the Cabinet, or Council of Ministers. Legislative power is vested in the Cortes Generales, a bicameral parliament constituted by the Congress of Deputies and the Senate. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature, administering justice on behalf of the King by judges and magistrates.
context_section_description: The Congress of Deputies must be integrated by a minimum of 300 and a maximum of 400 deputies (members of parliament) — currently 350 — elected by universal, free, equal, direct and secret suffrage, to four-year terms or until the dissolution of the Cortes Generales.  The voting system used is that of proportional representation with closed party lists following D'Hondt method in which the province forms a constituency or electoral circumscription and must be assigned a minimum of 2 deputies; the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, are each assigned one deputy.
  The Congress of Deputies can initiate legislation, and they also have the power to ratify or reject the decree laws adopted by the executive. They also elect, via a vote of investiture, the prime minister (the "president of the Government"), before he or she can be formally sworn to office by the King. The Congress of Deputies may adopt a motion of censure whereby it can vote out the prime minister by absolute majority. On the other hand, the prime minister may request at any time a vote of confidence from the Congress of Deputies. If he or she fails to obtain it, then the Cortes Generales are dissolved, and new elections are called.
caption: Façade of the Palace of the Cortes, seat of the Congress of Deputies
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