- "King of Spain" redirects here. For other uses, see King of Spain (disambiguation).
The
Spanish monarchy (
Spanish:
monarquía española) is the
parliamentary monarchy of
Spain. The king or queen of Spain (
rey de España or
reina de España) is the
head of state and the
commander-in-chief of the
Royal Armed Forces. The monarch's power is mainly symbolic, because all royal acts must be approved by either the
Prime Minister of Spain or the
President of the Congress of Deputies to be valid. The current king is
Juan Carlos I, who is
styled as "
His Majesty." The monarchy is established in Title II, articles 56 to 65 of the
Spanish Constitution of 1978 (in which it is referred to as the
Crown of Spain,
corona de España). The constitutional title of the monarch is simply "king of Spain" - contrary to some belief, the long titulary which contains the list of over 20 kingdoms etc, is not in state use, nor is it used in Spanish diplomacy.
Royal Palace of Madrid (Palacio Real de Madrid). However, the royal family actually resides at the Palacio de la Zarzuela on the outskirts of Madrid.
The heir apparent to the Spanish monarchy receives the titles Prince of Asturias, Prince of Gerona, and Prince of Viana, Asturias being on behalf of Kingdom of Castile, Gerona on behalf of Kingdom of Aragon, and Viana, a disputed title, on behalf of Kingdom of Navarre. The current heir apparent of Spain is Prince Felipe.
See also
External Links
Monarchy in Spain | Government of Spain | Politics of Spain
König (Spanien) | Rey de España
"Spanish monarchy"