The autonomous communities (Spanish: comunidad autĂłnoma) are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Spain.
There are 17 autonomous communities and two autonomous cities (Ceuta and Melilla) that are collectively known as "autonomies". The two autonomous cities have the right to become autonomous communities.
In Spain, a statute of autonomy is the basic institutional, quasi-constitutional law of an autonomous community or autonomous city. The process of devolution after the transition to democracy (1979) created 17 autonomous communities and 2 autonomous cities, each having its own Statute of Autonomy. The two autonomous cities are Ceuta and Melilla, both on the north coast of Africa.
These statutes define the institutional framework within a region and the powers Spanish: competencias of the region, within the limits of the Constitution. Powers fall into four broad categories: those exclusive to the State; those where the State legislates and the autonomous communities implement this legislation; those where the State defines framework legislation and the regions add detailed legislation and are responsible for execution; and finally those powers that are exclusive the autonomous communities.
The High Court of Justice of Andalusia, Ceuta and Melilla (Spanish: Tribunal Superior de Justicia de AndalucĂa, Ceuta y Melilla, TSJA), is the highest court of Andalusia, and for the Spanish autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla. Its seat is the former Royal Chancery of Granada. The TSJA has full power over all the jurisdictional orders: civil and penal law, social law, administrative disputes, and any other orders that may be created in the future.
The TSJA is the final jurisdictional court of all trials initiated in the autonomous community of Andalusia and the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, and is the final appeal court for all legal processes that occur in those areas, whatever law is invoked as applicable, in accord with the Organic Law of Judicial Power and without prejudice to the powers reserved to the Supreme Court.
The Congress of Deputies (Spanish: Congreso de los Diputados) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch, the upper house being the Senate. The Congress meets in the Palace of the Parliament (Palacio de las Cortes) in Madrid.
Congress has 350 members elected from fifty-two constituencies (the fifty provinces and two autonomous cities) using closed list D'Hondt proportional representation. Deputies serve four-year terms. The presiding officer and speaker is the President of the Congress of Deputies, who is elected by the members at the first sitting of Congress after an election.
Spain is a transcontinental country located in southwestern Europe and northern Africa, occupying about 84.6% of the Iberian Peninsula. Its territory includes a small exclave inside France called LlĂvia, the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, and several territories on or near the North African coast, including the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla and the plazas de soberanĂa (Islas Chafarinas, Islas de Alhucemas, Isla Perejil, and Peñón de VĂ©lez de la Gomera).
The Spanish mainland is bordered to the south and east almost entirely by the Mediterranean Sea (except for the small British territory of Gibraltar); to the north by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the west by the Atlantic Ocean and Portugal. With a land area of 504,782 square kilometres (194,897Â mi) in the Iberian Peninsula, Spain is the largest country in Southern Europe, the second largest country in Western Europe (behind France), and the fourth largest country in the European continent (behind Russia, Ukraine, and France). It has an average altitude of 650Â m.