Spanish Constitutional Reform Process

The EC was created to approve a new constitution for Spain. The reform law established three procedures for initiating the process:

• Government Initiative: Presentation of a constitutional text for discussion, approval, and submission to the Chambers.
• Parliamentary Initiative: The Chambers themselves initiated a proposal without prior government intervention.
• Royal Initiative: The King could push a text through a referendum without it going through the courts.

The second option, parliamentary initiative, was chosen as the government waived its right to present a constitutional text. Given that no single party held a majority, maximum participation from all parties was essential.

• Selection, Sorting, and Organization: Congress appointed a committee for constitutional and civil liberties issues to prepare a draft EC. This committee was to represent the majority of political forces in the House and be chaired by a member of the parliamentary majority. The committee comprised 36 members, including experts from each political group, to ensure broader representation.
• Drafting Process: A draft required nominations, with specific allocations: UCD received 3 nominations, PSOE 1, PSUC 1, People's Alliance 1, and Catalan or Basque nationalists received representation. This system aimed to balance the influence of parties with larger vote shares and minority parties.
• Elections and Work Commencement: Following the elections on June 15, 1977, the EC began its work on August 1, 1977, continuing until the winter of 1977. The deliberations were initially secret to ensure confidentiality, although the final text was eventually leaked due to members working outside the official group.
• Submission and Amendments: Upon completion, the draft text was submitted to the Constitutional Affairs Committee for discussion before being passed to Congress. Over 1,000 amendments were proposed and debated, with work continuing until the summer of 1978.
• Congressional and Senate Approval: Congress approved the final text in July 1978. It was then sent to the Senate, where its different composition led to over 1,000 further amendments.
• Final Reconciliation: The text was approved by the full Senate. It was then sent back to the Political Reform Act committee for reconciliation of the changes.