| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Las Cortes Generales / The Cortes |
| Structure of parliament |
Bicameral |
| Chamber name (generic / translated) |
Congreso de los Diputados / Congress of Deputies |
| Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) |
Senado / Senate
|
| LEGAL FRAMEWORK |
| Electoral Law |
16 June 1985
Last amendment: 23/03/1995 |
| Mode of designation |
directly elected 350 |
| Constituencies |
- 50 multi-member (2 seats minimum per province, the rest allotted according to population) constituencies corresponding to the country's provinces
- 2 single-member constituencies (North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla) |
| Voting system |
Mixed:
- multi-member constituencies: blocked party lists and the d'Hondt system of proportional representation; each voter chooses one list of those made available in the constituency (province)
- single-member constituencies: simple majority vote
Vacancies are filled by the "next-in-line" candidate on the list of the same party which held the seat in question (or by substitutes in Ceuta and Melilla).
Voting is not compulsory. |
| Voter requirements |
- age: 18 years
- Spanish citizenship
- full possession of political rights
|
| CANDIDATES |
| Eligibility |
Qualified electors
- age: 18 years
- Spanish citizenship
|
| Incompatibilities |
- certain high-ranking government, political and public posts
- members of the armed forces
- members of the assembly of an Autonomous Community
- members of an electoral committee (junta)
|
| Candidacy requirements |
- by duly registered political associations and federations, coalitions of the same, or by at least 0.1% (and no fewer than 500) of the constituency's registered electorate |
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Electoral system module
