Spanish Congress - Definition and Overview

This article is part of the series Politics of Spain

The Crown - Head of State

Cortes Generales - Legislative branch    Congress of Deputies    Senate    Regional legislatures Political parties in Spain Elections in Spain: 1977 - 1979 - 1982 - 1986 1989 - 1993 - 1996 - 2000 2004

Government - Executive branch    President of the Government    Council of Ministers    Regional governments

Judicial system - Judicial branch    General Council of the Judicial Power    Constitutional Court    Supreme Court    Regional high courts

Constitution    1977 Political Reform Act    1978 Constitution    Amendments Autonomous communities Madrid (capital city)

The Spanish Congress of Deputies (Spanish: Congreso de los Diputados) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch.

It has 350 members, elected by popular vote on block lists by proportional representation in constituencies matching the Spanish provinces using the D'Hondt method. Deputies serve four-year terms.

Composition for the 8th term

	PSOE	PP	CiU	ERC	PNV	IU	Other	Total
Outgoing	125	183	15	1	7	8	11	350
Incoming	164	148	10	8	7	5	8	350
Change	+39	-35	-5	+7	0	-3	-3	0

(Absolute majority is 176 seats. Bold: majority. Italic: plurality)

History:

The building, Congreso de los Diputados, has a neoclassical style was constructed between 1843 and 1850, and architected by Narcisco Pascual and Colomer. It sits by the Carrera de San Jerónimo, in Madrid.

See also:

• Spanish general election, 2000
• Spanish general election, 2004

External links:

• Congreso de los Diputados - official website (http://www.congreso.es/) (Spanish)

Example Usage of Congress