Constitution of Spain

The Constitution of Spain, dated 1978 and revised in 2011, is the fundamental law of the Spanish State. Its preamble says the Spanish Nation proclaims its will to guarantee democratic coexistence, consolidate a State of Law, protect all Spaniards and peoples of Spain in the exercise of human rights and cooperate in strengthening peaceful relations among peoples. Section 1 establishes Spain as a social and democratic State subject to the rule of law, places national sovereignty in the Spanish people and gives the State the political form of a Parliamentary Monarchy. It rests on the indissoluble unity of the Spanish Nation while recognizing the self-government of its nationalities and regions, makes Castilian the official language of the State with the other Spanish languages official in their Self-governing Communities, and names Madrid as capital. It also provides for the Cortes Generales, the Defender of the People as ombudsman and an individual appeal for protection (recurso de amparo) to the Constitutional Court. The Constitute Project text records that it was subsequently amended, including a 1992 reform on municipal voting rights of foreigners.