Constitution Day, Spain (December 6th,1978)

Spain has had a constitution of its own for a relatively short period of time. The adoption of democratic principles, dating back forty years to the end of the dictatorship (1939-1975), allowed Spain to open a new page in its history.

On December 15th, 1976 a law was passed to define the political reform of Spain, and end the political system of Francoism. The reform gave birth to Constituent Cortes, whose activity ended with the adoption of the new constitution.

On December 6th, 1978 the Spanish people adopted the National Constitution and this date became a Constiution Day in Spain. Out of approximately 27 million people with voting rights at that time, over 18 million voted. One and a half million of the latter voted against and over 700 thousand votes were deemed invalid.

The constitution of 1978 was positively passed by a majority of the population of Spain and is in many ways similar to the constitutions of other Western countries. The constitution declares the basic human rights, national sovereignty, and declares Spain a social, democratic, legal state, with a political structure in the form of a parliamentary monarchy. The 1978 Constitution gave more rights to autonomous regions. And despite the fact that not too many people in Spain participate in the celebration of Constitution Day, the majority of the Spanish reminisce about the 1978 referendum and are truly proud with their constitution.

Starting in 1978 the constitution of Spain was amended only once, in order to give the citizens of other European Union countries living in Spain the right to vote for candidates in local elections, as well as run for office themselves.

Constitution Day in Spain is a national holiday and a day off. To compliment such a festive occasion, the Congress of Deputies organizes an open doors day, so that everyone can visit the lower house of the Spanish parliament.