December 6th: Spain´s Constitution Day
Today, Spaniards celebrate their constitution with a national holiday marking its approval by referendum on December 6th, 1978.
The referendum was the vital step in Spain’s transition to democracy following the death of Francisco Franco in 1975 heralding the birth of the country´s new beginning as a liberal democracy.
The drafting of the constitution started after a general election in 1977 to elect members of the Spanish Parliament (Cortes Generales) who would choose the group of men whose task it was to produce a draft to take to the people.
The seven men were Gabriel Cisneros (UCD), José Pedro Pérez-Llorca (UCD), Miguel Herrero de Miñon (UCD), Miquel Roca i Juvent (CDC), Manuel Fraga Iribarne (AP), Gregorio Peces-Barba (PSOE) and Jordi Solé Tura (PSUC).
The final version of the document was proofread for spelling, grammar and form by Nobel laureate Camilo José Cela.
It was then passed by the Cortes on October 31, 1978, after which it was approved in the referendum of the 6th December with nearly 92% support before finally receiving its royal assent by King Juan Carlos on December 27, 1978.
The full text of the Spanish Constitution—one of the longest in Europe—was published by the government in the Spanish Official Gazette on December 29 of that year, and its physical copy was housed in the Cortes in Madrid, where it still resides.
The constitution remains the core of the Spanish political and legal systems. It is the basis for other rules, fundamental rights and public freedoms, the principles of action of the public authorities and the institutional and territorial organisation of the Spanish State.
The higher values of Spain, as a social and democratic state governed by the rule of law, are freedom, justice, equality and political pluralism. The political form is parliamentary monarchy.
The Constitution is based on the indissoluble unity of the Spanish Nation and recognises the right to autonomy of the nationalities and regions integrated into it, as well as solidarity among them all.
Since 1978 the constitution has been modified twice to help stabilize the national budget, and Spain´s entry into the European Union in 1986.
On Constitution Day Madrid´s Parliamentary buildings ( Cortes and Senado) are open to the public, and several schools are chosen each year to participate in the reading of the Constitution in the Cortes.
