Senado (Spain)
logo | Plaza de la Marina, seat of the Senate |
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Basic data | |
Seat: | Plaza de la Marina, Madrid |
Current legislative period | |
Chair: | President of the Senate: Pilar Llop Cuenca ( Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE) ) |
Distribution of seats: |
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Website | |
www.senado.es |
The Senado de España is the chamber of territorial representation of the Spanish parliament , roughly comparable to the Bundesrat in Germany (members not directly elected), the Bundesrat in Austria (not directly elected) and the Council of States in Switzerland (directly elected). The seat of the Senate is in the Plaza de la Marina in Madrid .
functionality
The Senate currently has 265 members, of which 208 are elected in general, free, equal, direct and secret elections according to the following mode:
- The electorate in each province (with the exception of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria , Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Illes Balears provinces ) elect four senators (regardless of population).
- The islands of Gran Canaria , Mallorca and Tenerife each elect three senators.
- The islands of Ibiza - Formentera , Menorca , Fuerteventura , Gomera , Hierro , Lanzarote and La Palma each elect a Senator.
- The two "autonomous cities" ( Spanish ciudades autónomas ) Ceuta and Melilla on the north coast of Africa each elect 2 senators.
In addition, the regional parliaments of the autonomous communities of Spain nominate one senator and one more for every million inhabitants in the respective community. The number of senators appointed in this way is adjusted every ten years to the population development and is therefore variable. In total there are around 50 senators who are sent to the Senate by indirect election. The Senate is also elected for four years.
The last election took place on November 10, 2019. The current President of the Senate is Pilar Llop Cuenca (at the suggestion of the PSOE, formally non-party). There are 23 parties represented in the Senate, which have formed 8 parliamentary groups. The majority of the parties represented are groupings that only exist in one region.
According to Article 90 of the Spanish Constitution, the Senate can reject bills passed by the Congress of Deputies with a majority of its members ("absolute majority"). Congress can reject this veto with an absolute majority. Significant differences to the German Bundesrat are, for example, that the members of the Senate are not members of the regional executive bodies, that voting does not have to be uniform for each region and that the chairmanship does not rotate between the regions.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Senado de España: Cuadro resumen de Grupos Parlamentarios (Composición actual). Retrieved January 22, 2020 .
- ↑ Resultados Elecciones Generales 2019 al Senado - RTVE.es. Retrieved December 7, 2019 (Spanish).
- ^ Noticias Jurídicas. Retrieved December 7, 2019 .