Understanding Articles 137 & 147: Spain’s Territorial Organization
Understanding Spain’s Territorial Organization: Articles 137 & 147
Articles 137 and 147, belonging to Title VIII of the Constitution, address the Territorial Organisation of the State. Article 137 clearly explains how Spain is organized territorially. It has a historical equivalent in Title I of the Constitution of the Second Republic, which dealt with the national organization. However, the 1978 Constitution allows for broader autonomy.
This new organization of autonomous communities has resulted in the creation of 17 economic entities with their own parliaments and regional governments. This has brought the administration closer to the citizens but has also increased bureaucracy. Many of these newly created autonomous communities have no historical precedent, but the Constitution allows for their creation. This is a major step towards the modernization and transformation of Spain into a highly decentralized state, breaking the old centralist tradition that prevailed in Spain from the eighteenth century.
Article 147 states that the basic norm of each autonomous community is its corresponding statute of autonomy. It specifies the basics to be included and indicates how the reform can be accomplished.
In short, the Constitution of 1978 creates a highly decentralized state, much more cohesive, strong, and supportive than the extreme centralist model advocated by the Franco regime.
Spanish Constitution (Adopted by the Parliament on October 31, 1978). Text twelve.
The 1978 Constitution is the most successful result of the political consensus of the years of transition. This broad document has ten titles, plus a preliminary title that explains the features of the text, and 169 articles, additional provisions, transitional provisions, and repeal of Franco’s laws.
The proposed text is arranged as follows:
Articles 1, 2, and 6 are part of the Preliminary Title.
Paragraph 1 defines Spain as a social and democratic state of law. This means that all higher values of our legal system are subject to the law, avoiding arbitrary and irregular functioning of the legislature at all times.
Paragraph 3 states that the Spanish government is constituted as a kingdom, a constitutional monarchy, in line with the more advanced stages of Europe at that time.
Article 2 states that Spain is a nation that has the right to organize its autonomous territory. It is the first reference in the text to this old and long-unresolved problem, except for the constitution of the Second Republic, which was later suspended by the Francoist laws. Title VIII of the text develops this article more fully.
Article 16 is part of Title I, which deals with Fundamental Rights and Duties. This article establishes the separation of church and state in Spain. Spain has always had an almost perfect partnership between church and state, as all constitutions since that of Cadiz, except that of the Second Republic, have recognized the Catholic religion as an official religion of the state. However, the text states that Spain is a non-denominational state. This is not the same as secular, as the constituents wanted to avoid implying hostility toward religion.