Spain is a decentralised unitary state with a parliamentary monarchy under the 1978 Constitution. The Parliament (Cortes Generales) is bicameral and comprises the Congress of Deputies (Congreso de los Diputados) and the Senate (Senado). The Congress is elected by universal suffrage and is composed by 300 to 400 members (Art. 68). The Senate is the Chamber of territorial representation (Art. 69) and is formed by 266 members, 208 of whom are directly elected by the people. The remaining 58 senators are appointed by the regional assemblies: each Autonomous Community appoints from its own rank one Senator and an additional Senator for every million inhabitants in their respective territories (Art. 69.5), according to a proportional system mirroring the composition of the regional assembly.

The Congress of Deputies has more extended competences than the Senate (Art. 82, 88, 90, 99 and 113). Nonetheless, the Senate is the maximum authority able to seize power away from the Autonomous Communities under Article 155. According to this Article, if the government of an Autonomous Community does not abide by the Constitution, the Senate can force the above mentioned autonomous government or take any law enforcement measures deemed necessary. Article 155 can only be triggered by an absolute majority in the Senate (so far it has been only activated once to remove the Government of Catalonia in October 2017).

Regarding the Senate's functions and purpose, intensive debates on the possibility to reform the Senate have been going on for many years without any final conclusion.

All members of the Senate (elected and appointed by the Autonomous Communities) join in common political groups, regardless of their territorial origin. The Senators' political behaviour, to the present day, has been mostly related to their political affinities and not to their territorial character.

The Government is led by a Prime Minister (Presidente del Gobierno) and the Head of State is the Monarch.

Spain is a regionalised State, also referred to as “Estado de las Autonomías". It comprises three levels of governance: central, regional and local (comprising of Provinces and Municipalities), as established in Art. 137 of the Constitution. Whereas during the dictatorship Spain used to be highly centralised, the 1978 Constitution foresaw the possibility to create Autonomous Communities (Art. 143). The decision on the number of Autonomous Communities and the resulting territorial organisation are not defined by the Constitution but by an agreement between the regions interested in constituting themselves as an Autonomous Community and the Cortes Generales, in the form of a Statute of Autonomy (Art. 143).

As a result of the absence of a unified procedure, the creation of the different Autonomous Communities took place through a complex procedure from 1979 until 1983. The Basque Country, Catalonia, Galicia and Andalusia were the first ones to adopt their own Statutes of Autonomy (Estatutos de Autonomía) using the special fast-track procedure of Art. 151 of the Spanish Constitution. The remaining regions also adopted their own Statutes under the general procedure of Art. 143, so that today all the Autonomous Communities enjoy important autonomy and have legislative powers. In addition, Ceuta and Melilla, the two Spanish Autonomous Cities located in Northern Africa, also adopted their own Statutes in 1995. Since 2004, many Autonomous Communities have reformed their Statutes towards a larger autonomy.

As of today, there are 17 Autonomous Communities (Comunidades Autonomas), 50 Provinces (Provincias), 8131 Municipalities (Municipios) and two Autonomous Cities. The Canary Islands have the outermost regions status under European Union (EU) primary law.

The right to self-government is enshrined in the Constitution (Article 2). Moreover, the autonomy of the Municipalities, the Provinces and the Autonomous Communities is embedded in Article 137. Pursuant to the Constitution, the Autonomous Communities adopt their own Statutes and hold legislative powers. The Autonomous Communities, the Provinces and the Municipalities run their respective affairs autonomously. The Provinces exist mainly for coordinating purposes.  One should note that provincial competences are assumed by the Autonomous Community in those that comprise only one province (namely Murcia, La Rioja, Madrid, Asturias and Cantabria). Moreover, the Basque Country and Navarra have special financial competencies, as they are the only Autonomous Communities with powers to keep, establish and regulate their tax regime.

The Constitution sets out the division of powers: some competences are expressly attributed to the State whereas the Autonomous Communities may assume the residual competences in their Statutes of Autonomy. At first and until the mid-1990s, important differences existed between the Autonomous Communities, depending on their history and on their procedure of creation. Nonetheless, as of today, all Autonomous Communities enjoy the same degree of political autonomy and the differences between the exercise of their powers is rather low (mainly some specific cultural and linguistic powers, civil legislation and some specific provisions on police and public security, immigration, etc.) The only exception is the aforementioned specific financial system of the Basque Country and Navarra, which are addressed below (see “fiscal powers").

Conflicts on competences between the central and regional authorities are ruled by the Constitutional Court. Besides the Constitution, the Statutes of the Autonomous Communities and several laws describe the vertical division of powers. 

According to the powers constitutionally guaranteed to the State, the Statutes of Autonomy define the institutions and powers of each Autonomous Community. They must be approved via a procedure that results in the agreement between the regional assembly and the national parliament. Consequently, the powers of the Communities may increase or decrease without changing the Constitution, provided that they are adopted within the confines of the constitutional framework. Nevertheless, the procedure to reform the Statutes of Autonomy is almost as rigid as the reform of the Constitution and must seek an agreement between the national and regional parliaments.

Autonomous Communities can participate in European Union (EU) decision-making through the Spanish delegation. Such participation is developed internally through the different sectoral conferences and, since 1997 directly in the committee system which oversees the delegated acts implemented by the European Commission (ex-comitology). Furthermore, since 9 December 2004 the Autonomous Communities and the Autonomous Cities may participate in some of the Council of the EU meetings and working groups.

The Constitution contains a general warrant of the local autonomy, but the allocation of local powers is regulated by the law. The 1985 Law regulating the basis of the local government system (Ley reguladora de las bases del régimen local) defines the basic institutional framework of local authorities (Municipalities and Provinces) and gives an indication of their powers. However, the local distribution of powers largely depends on every sectoral law (State law or autonomic law) and may differ importantly from an Autonomous Community to another. Besides the powers expressly allocated by the law (mainly administrative powers), local authorities may adopt their own rules provided that they respect State and autonomic laws. They also have a general administrative power on matters which are not allocated to other institutions by the law. Local powers are mainly allocated to Municipalities; second-level local authorities, Provinces, have essentially delegated powers and a general power to cooperate with municipalities.

Local government expenditure for the period 2015-2019 was 5.9% of GDP.[1] Of total local expenditure, 69.1% was resourced to town councils, 19.3% to provincial councils, 8.6% to common regional councils, and 3.0% to island councils and inter-island councils.[2] Among OECD countries, Spain is in the higher end of  subnational government expenditure rates (49.2% of public expenditure in 2016),

Central level

State powers[3]

The State has competence in the following fields:

Exclusive competences

• Nationality, immigration, emigration, foreign policy and asylum law;
• International relations;
• Defence and security; Justice Administration;
• Foreign trade;
• Monetary system;
• Treasury and State debt;
• Maritime fisheries;
• Transports (ports, airports, control of air traffic, weather service; railway and transports of supra-regional interest)
• Public works of public interest or of supra-regional interest;
• Referenda. 

Legislative competences

• Procedural law;
• Legislation on market, criminal and penitentiary matters;
• Labour legislation;
• Civil legislation (except in those Autonomous Communities where civil, foral or special law exists)
• Intellectual and industrial property;
• Social insurance system;
• Basic legislation on environmental protection;
• Referenda.

Basic competences

• Regulation of standards ensuring equality among citizens in the exercise of their rights and compliance with constitutional duties;
• General planning of economic activity;
• Promotion and coordination of technical and scientific research;
• Guidelines and coordination of public health; legislation on pharmaceutics;
• Basic legislation on public administration and administrative procedures;
• Legislation and management of water of supra-regional interest;
• Energy resources policy;
• Legislation on arms;
• Basic legislation on communication channels;
• Defence of Spanish cultural and artistic heritage; State museums, libraries and archives;
• Regulation of standards in the field of academic and professional qualifications;
• Basic legislation relating to education;
• Statistics.

Regional level

Autonomous Communities

According to Article 149.3, , matters not listed in Article 149.1 and Article 149.2 of the Spanish Constitution may fall under the jurisdiction of the Autonomous Community by virtue of their respective Statutes. Matters not assumed by the Autonomous Communities remain under the State's jurisdiction. In case of conflict, the laws of the State shall prevail if the matter's exclusive jurisdiction has not been conferred upon the Autonomous Communities. Autonomous Communities are also responsible for the legislative development and implementation of the basic legislation and State legislation.

They may assume competences in the following fields:[4]

• Organisation of regional government institutions;
• Changes in municipal boundaries;
• Public order;
• Planning, urbanism and housing;
• Public works of regional interest;
• Transports (Regional railway and road networks; Regional transport; ports and airports not engaged in commercial activities);
• Agriculture and forestry;
• Environment (protection);
• Water management;
• Inland fisheries, hunting and aquaculture;
• Festivals;
• Promotion of economic development within the frame of the national policy;
• Craftwork;
• Culture (museums, libraries and music conservatories of regional interest; cultural heritage; promotion of culture and of the regional language when relevant);
• Promotion of regional tourism;
• Promotion of sports and leisure activities;
• Social assistance;
• Health and hygiene;
• Development and implementation of state basis legislation on such matters as general regulation of economic activity, education, public health or environment;
• Execution of state legislation on matters such as labour legislation, administration of justice or intellectual and industrial property.

 For the first time, the new Statute of Autonomy of the Canary Islands, approved in November 2018, recognises the sea as part of the territory of an Autonomous Community. Before, the sea had never fallen under the jurisdiction of the Autonomous Communities. While this change has no direct impact on the competencies of the Autonomous Communities, it opens the door for the Autonomous Communities (especially those constituted by islands) to have powers over the sea.

Local level[5]

Provinces

Provinces are responsible for:

• Competences in fields of supra-municipal interest;
• Technical, legal, and economic assistance to Municipalities with less than 5.000 inhabitants;
• Provision of public services of supra-municipal character;
• Cooperation in the promotion of economic and social development and in planning of the provincial territory;
• Implementation of capital expenditure projects outside the municipal territorial boundaries (including secondary road networks, some hospitals etc.);
• Any delegated competence.

The actual provincial competences, which are generally defined as securing coordination and provision of municipal services, largely depend on the Provinces' financial resources, municipal decisions, as well as on historical development. Therefore, there are tremendous differences between the Provinces.

Municipalities[6]

Municipalities must provide the following services:

All the Municipalities:

• Public lightning;
• Cemetery;
• Waste collection;
• Cleaning;
• Drinking water supply systems;
• Sewage;
• Local public road maintenance

Municipalities with more than 5.000 inhabitants are responsible, in addition, for:

• Public park
• Public library;
• Waste treatment.

Municipalities with more than 20.000 inhabitants are responsible, in addition, for:

• Civil protection;
• Social service allowances;
• Fire fighting services;
• Sports facilities.

Municipalities with more than 50.000 inhabitants are responsible, in addition, for:

• Collective urban transportation;
• Urban environmental protection.

Competences exercised in the conditions defined by State and Regional laws:

• Urban planning, housing and heritage;
• Urban environment: parks and gardens, waste, protection against pollution.
• Protection of the environment;
• Drinking water supplies;
• Road infrastructures;
• Social services, protection against social inclusion;
• Local police, civil protection, fire prevention and extinction;
• Traffic management and collective urban transport
• Tourism;
• Markets and fairs;
• Protection of public health;
• Cemeteries and funeral services;
• Promotion of sport and sport facilities;
• Promotion of culture and cultural facilities;
• Education;
• Promotion of efficient and sustainable use of IT;
• Promotion of gender equality and fight against domestic violence.

[1] Eurostat, Government revenue, expenditure and main aggregates, updated 22-04-2020

[2] https://www.hacienda.gob.es/Documentacion/Publico/SGT/CATALOGO_SEFP/223_Regimen-Local-ING-INTERNET.pdf

[3] Article 149 of the Spanish Constitution.

[4] Article 148.

[5] Ley 7/1985, de 2 de abril, Reguladora de las Bases del Régimen Local: https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1985-5392

[6] The division of competences at municipal level is extremely complicated since Municipalities shall assume the competences listed in State and Regional laws. Thus, there may be slight variations between the lists indicated in the general box on the division of competences and in the thematic boxes on each competence.