Spanish monarchy

From Free net encyclopedia

Image:Escudo JC-I.png The Spanish monarchy (Spanish: monarquía española) is the monarchy of Spain. The king or queen of Spain (rey de España or reina de 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 official residence of the Spanish monarch is the 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.