History

The Cortes, through the years

From a meeting in León in 1188 to today's Congreso and Senate: 35 moments that explain how Spain has come to decide who makes the laws and who gets to vote. For those discovering it for the first time and for those who lived through it.

Each moment links to its official source: the BOE, the Diarios de Sesiones, the Congreso, the Senate, UNESCO or the Royal Academy of History.

22 moments

Since 1977: democracy

1977

June 15, 1977

The first democratic election in 41 years

For the first time since 1936, Spaniards freely elected their deputies and senators, with parties from across the political spectrum. The Senate had 248 members: 207 elected and 41 appointed by the King. Although they were not called as a constituent assembly, these were the Cortes that drafted the Constitution.

Why it matters today. It is the starting point of today's democracy; parliamentary terms are counted from here.

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Congreso, the Constituent Legislature (1977-1979)

1978

December 6, 1978

The Constitution

Seven deputies from different groups wrote the draft, which received thousands of amendments. The Congreso and the Senate approved it on October 31, and voters ratified it in a referendum on December 6. It defines Spain as a parliamentary monarchy and creates the Cortes Generales: the Congreso and the Senate, the latter as the chamber of territorial representation.

Why it matters today. It is still in force and is the longest-lasting in Spain's history; everything El Pleno explains rests on it.

Gabriel Cisneros
Miguel Herrero de Miñón
José Pedro Pérez-Llorca
Gregorio Peces-Barba
Manuel Fraga
Jordi Solé Tura
Miquel Roca

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1979

December 18, 1979

The first statutes of autonomy

The Cortes passed the statutes of the Basque Country and Catalonia, the first two of the system of autonomous communities. Others followed until there were 17 autonomous communities, joined in 1995 by the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla. Each statute is an organic law passed by the Cortes Generales.

Why it matters today. Health care, schools and many everyday services are run by your autonomous community because of these statutes.

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1981

February 23, 1981

The attempted coup

During the second investiture vote for Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo, an armed group of Civil Guards led by Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero entered the chamber and held the deputies and the government overnight. The attempt failed. On February 25 the chamber resumed its session and Calvo-Sotelo was confirmed as prime minister.

Why it matters today. Two days later the Congreso finished the interrupted vote; democracy carried on through Parliament.

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1981

July 7, 1981

The divorce law

Under a UCD government, the Cortes amended the Civil Code to allow divorce, which had not existed in Spain since the Second Republic. The law also regulated legal separation and annulment. It was one of the most intense debates of those years.

Why it matters today. It changed family law and the lives of millions of people.

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BOE, Law 30/1981

1982

October 28, 1982

The first change of government

The election gave Felipe González's PSOE an absolute majority, and government passed from one party to another through the ballot box for the first time since 1977. Since then, different parties have taken turns in government, always after an election or a motion of no confidence.

Why it matters today. Peaceful transfers of power are one of the tests of a settled democracy.

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Congreso, 2nd Legislature (1982-1986)

Adolfo Suárez
Felipe González

1985

June 12, 1985

Spain joins Europe

Spain signed the treaty to join the European Communities in Madrid, while Portugal signed in Lisbon. The Cortes first authorized membership with an organic law, as the Constitution requires. Spain became a member on January 1, 1986.

Why it matters today. Passport-free travel, Erasmus exchanges and paying in euros all trace back to this.

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BOE, Organic Law 10/1985

1986

April 25, 1986

The General Health Act

Under a PSOE government, the Cortes passed the law that created the National Health System. It organized public health care into health areas run by the autonomous communities and extended it as a right to the whole population.

Why it matters today. Your local health center and health card exist because of this law.

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BOE, Law 14/1986, the General Health Act

1992

August 27, 1992

The first constitutional amendment

To ratify the Maastricht Treaty, the Cortes amended the Constitution for the first time. They added two words, y pasivo (the right to stand), so that citizens of other European Union countries can be elected, not only vote, in municipal elections.

Why it matters today. If you are from another EU country and live in Spain, you can run for your town council.

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BOE, amendment of Article 13.2 of the Constitution

1999

February 9, 1999 and April 5, 2000

The first women to lead each chamber

In 1999 Esperanza Aguirre became the first woman to preside over the Senate, and in 2000 Luisa Fernanda Rudi became the first woman Speaker of the Congreso. Both were from the PP. Other women from different parties have since led the Congreso: Ana Pastor (PP), Meritxell Batet (PSOE) and Francina Armengol (PSOE).

Why it matters today. Both chambers have now been led by women from different parties; it is no longer news, and once it was.

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Esperanza Aguirre
Luisa Fernanda Rudi

2001

December 31, 2001

Goodbye to compulsory military service

Under a PP government, the Cortes approved fully professional armed forces in 1999 and the end of compulsory military service, which the government brought forward to December 31, 2001. Since then no young person has been required to serve.

Why it matters today. For generations almost every young man spent months in military service; those born from the 1980s on did not.

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2002

January 1, 2002

The euro arrives

Under a PP government, the Cortes passed the law that organized the switch from the peseta to the euro. The euro had been the official currency since 1999, and coins and notes arrived on January 1, 2002. The peseta, in use since 1868, left circulation a few weeks later.

Why it matters today. It is the money you spend every day and share with much of Europe.

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BOE, Law 46/1998 on the introduction of the euro

2005

July 1, 2005

Same-sex marriage

Under a PSOE government, the Cortes amended the Civil Code so that two people of the same sex could marry with the same rights. The law was challenged before the Constitutional Court, which upheld it in November 2012.

Why it matters today. Since then, same-sex couples have married with the same rights as any other couple.

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2011

September 27, 2011

The Article 135 amendment

In the middle of the debt crisis, the PSOE and the PP agreed to amend the Constitution to enshrine budget stability and give priority to paying the public debt. It went through an expedited procedure in a few weeks. It was the second amendment to the Constitution.

Why it matters today. It caps public deficits and shapes every budget the Cortes vote on.

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BOE, amendment of Article 135

2013

December 9, 2013

The Transparency Act

Under a PP government, the Cortes passed the law requiring public bodies to publish information about how they work and giving anyone the right to request public information. It also created the Transparency Portal.

Why it matters today. Anyone can request information from the government, and sites like El Pleno build on that culture of open data.

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BOE, Law 19/2013

2014

June 18 and 19, 2014

Abdication and proclamation before the Cortes

When Juan Carlos I decided to abdicate, the Constitution required the Cortes to settle it with an organic law. The Congreso and the Senate passed it, and the next day Felipe VI swore to uphold the Constitution before both chambers in a joint session at the Congreso.

Why it matters today. In a parliamentary monarchy, even the royal succession goes through Parliament.

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BOE, Organic Law 3/2014

Juan Carlos I
Felipe VI

2016

May 3, 2016

A repeat election for the first time

The 2015 election produced a far more fragmented Congreso, with four large groups instead of two. No candidate won an investiture vote within two months and, for the first time, the Constitution required the Cortes to be dissolved and the election repeated.

Why it matters today. Since then, forming a government has required deals among several parties, and investitures are negotiated far more.

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BOE, Royal Decree 184/2016

2018

June 1, 2018

The first successful motion of no confidence

The Socialist Group filed a motion of no confidence against Mariano Rajoy's government, with Pedro Sánchez as the alternative candidate. It passed with 180 votes in favor, 169 against and 1 abstention. It was the fourth since 1980 and the first to succeed; the two that followed, in 2020 and 2023, failed.

Why it matters today. A motion of no confidence is how the Congreso can replace a government without an election, provided it names an alternative candidate.

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Congreso, motions of no confidence

2020

2019 and January 7, 2020

Two elections in a year and a coalition government

Spain held two general elections in 2019: after April's, no investiture succeeded and the Cortes were dissolved again. After the November election, Pedro Sánchez was confirmed and formed a government of PSOE and Unidas Podemos, the first coalition government since 1977.

Why it matters today. Coalition governments, common in other European countries, arrived in Spain too.

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BOE, Royal Decree 1/2020

2023

September 21, 2023

All official languages in the Congreso

The Congreso amended its rules so that deputies could speak and file documents in any of the official languages of the autonomous communities, with simultaneous interpretation. The Senate had partly allowed this since 2010. The change had both supporters and opponents among the groups.

Why it matters today. Catalan, Basque and Galician can now be heard in the Congreso, alongside Spanish.

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BOE, amendment of the Rules of the Congreso (2023)

2024

February 15, 2024

The Article 49 amendment

The PSOE and the PP agreed on the third amendment to the Constitution, which replaced the word disminuidos ("handicapped") with "persons with disabilities" and strengthened their rights. Disability organizations had called for it for years.

Why it matters today. The Constitution's wording matters: this amendment changed how it names millions of people.

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BOE, amendment of Article 49

2026

October 6, 2026

Dissolution and the 16th Legislature

On October 6, 2026, the decree dissolving the Cortes elected in 2023 was published, calling a general election for November 29. The new Cortes will meet on December 23, when the 16th Legislature begins. The history of the Cortes keeps being written with every vote.

Why it matters today. It is the next page of this story, and your vote writes it.

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BOE, Royal Decree 806/2026

And today, how does it work? The Congreso, the Senate, the Government and the King, explained How a law is made, how the prime minister is chosen and who does what, with the Constitution in hand. How it works

How we chose these moments

We tell facts that can be checked and link the source of each one. The laws that changed everyday life came from governments of every color: UCD (divorce), PSOE (health care, Europe, same-sex marriage), PP (the end of compulsory military service, the euro, transparency), and amendments to the Constitution agreed between the PSOE and the PP. We left out subjects that cannot be summed up fairly in a few lines; we will explain them with more room.

Something missing, or a mistake?

Write to us from the corrections page with a source that backs it up. The drawings are by El Pleno; the portraits are drawn from photographs by the Congreso, the Senate and Wikimedia Commons, credited below.

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Portraits

The portraits are pencil drawings made for El Pleno. This is the reference photograph for each.

Adolfo Suárez. Drawn without a reference photograph.
Gabriel Cisneros. Photograph by Ministerio de la Presidencia. Gobierno de España (Pool Moncloa) on Wikimedia Commons, attribution license.
Miguel Herrero de Miñón. Photograph by CecovaTV on Wikimedia Commons, license CC BY 3.0.
José Pedro Pérez-Llorca. Photograph by World Travel & Tourism Council on Wikimedia Commons, license CC BY 2.0.
Gregorio Peces-Barba. Photograph by Ministerio de la Presidencia. Gobierno de España (Pool Moncloa) on Wikimedia Commons, attribution license.
Manuel Fraga. Photograph by Xunta de Galicia on Wikimedia Commons, attribution license.
Jordi Solé Tura. Photograph by Ministerio de la Presidencia. Gobierno de España (Pool Moncloa) on Wikimedia Commons, attribution license.
Miquel Roca. Photograph by Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya on Wikimedia Commons, license CC BY 2.0.
Felipe González. Drawn without a reference photograph.
Esperanza Aguirre. Photograph by PP Madrid on Wikimedia Commons, license CC BY 2.0.
Luisa Fernanda Rudi. Official photograph of the Senate.
Juan Carlos I. Photograph by Irekia on Wikimedia Commons, license CC BY 2.0.
Felipe VI. Photograph by Daniel Virgili on Wikimedia Commons, license CC BY-SA 4.0. The drawing is a derivative work and is published under the same license.