SPAIN
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SPAIN
not accepted by the king, when he waa released from
his captivity by Napoleon, but Riego's military in-
surrection at Las Cabezas de S. Juan, in 1S20, forced
It uiwn him. It was overthrown by the French inter-
\ I'lition in 182^5. In 1834 the queen-reRent authorized
tlie Estatuto Real, a sort of moderate constitution.
Next came the Liberal Con.stitution of 1837, in which
C'atlioHc unity is not stipulated for, although it is
stilted that the Catholic Religion is that professed by
Spaniard.-!. Again, in the Constitution of 1845 it is
declared that the rchgion of Spain is the Catholic
.\postolic, Roman. In the Constitution of 1S56 tol-
eration of other creeds is estabhshed much as it now
exists. The Revolution of 1868 produced the Liberal
Constitution of 1869, which estabh.shed freedom of
worship (art. xxi), maintaining, however, the Catholic
lleligion and its ministers. Finally, the Constitution
"f l'<76, publi.shed under the Restoration, admitted
rrlisicius toleration, but declared the Catholic Religion
that of the State. In practice, there is in Spain a
great deal of religious liberty, the only conditions
being that dissenting places of worship must compl.\'
with certain outward forms — such as not having signs
placed on their exteriors. This last Constitution
places the legislative power in the Cortes with the
king. The Cortes are composed of two chambers:
the Senate and the Congre.ss. Some of the senators
sit of their own right (grandees, archbishops, etc.i,
others for life, others by election. The members ol
Congress {dipiitartos) are all elected. The king can
(convoke or prorogue the Cortes. The executive
power belongs to the king and his ministers, who arc
responsible for the conduct of the government. In
the succession to the Throne the ancient order, super-
seded by the Salic Law, is followed. The heir to the
Throne takes the title of Prince of Asturias. The
king attains his majority at the age of sixteen and in
minority is under the regency of his nearest relative :
Alfonso XIII, jMsthumous son of Alfonso XII, was
under the regency of his mother, Doiia Cristina of
Habsburg; on attaining his majority he was sworn
king, but was not solemnly crowned. The judicial
power is entrusted to tribunals which administer jus-
tice in the king's name. The latter has the preroga-
tive of pardon.
The relations of Church and State in Spain ha\ been regulated by various concordats. By law 1.;, title 1, Book I, of the "N'ovisima Recopilacion", the Council of Trent is the law of the realm. The chief concordats with Spain are: that of 1737 (Clement XII and Philip V); 17.52 (Benedict XIV and Ferdinand VI); 1851 (Pius IX and Isabel II). The last-named is still in force, although Liberal Governments violate it in various ways and pretend to modify it, invoking it, nevertheless, whenever convenient for their pur- poses. According to this concordat, which was in- tended to regulate the grave disorders consequent upon the confiscation of church property (disamor- tization), the Catholic is the only rehgion of the Spanish people. Public instruction is under the in- spection of the bishops and other diocesan prelates. The number of dioceses is diminished (see above: Ecclesiastical Organization) ; the form of provision for bishoprics and other benefices is determined {Patronnto Real), as also the remuneration of the clergy, maintenance of church buildings, etc. The Archbishop of Toledo receives 40,000 pesetas ($8000 or £1600); other archbishops, from 37,.500 to 32,500 pesetas (.?75(K) to $6.500) ; bishops, 25,000 to 20,000 pesetas ($.")000 to $4000).
In the civil law of Spain the predominant tendency is to suppress the individualities of the charter law (derecho foral) in the various parts of the country. These local )icculiarities are found especially in the law of family relations. In Catalonia the Roman Law prevailed, the father enjoyed freedom of testa- mentary disposition, and the right of the children was
limited to the legal one-fourth; in Castile the right of
testamentary disposition was limited to one-third and
one-fifth of what could be dispo.sed of for the individ-
Uiil advantage of one favoured child. Castile fol-
lowed the Gothic custom by which the bridegroom
paid arras to the bride at the wedding, while in Cata-
lonia the Roman dowry system was in force. In
other parts of the country other laws limited the
power of testamentary disposition even more than in
Castile. The unifying tendency was especially prev-
alent in the "Codigo Civil" pubhshed in 1888 by the
minister, Alonso IVIartinez, and which came into force
on 1 May, 1889. Although the charter law is pre-
served to some extent, modifications are introduced
such as that bearing on the biencs gananciales of
Castile, providing that the gannncias, or property
acquired after marriage, must, when the estate is
hquidated, be divided between husband and wife.
Main Doorwat of
Moreover, the fict thit the magistrites belong to
different provinces has its influence upon the process
of unification, as also the spirit of the Supreme Tri-
bunal, the decisions of which have the force of juris-
prudence, and serve as norms for the adjudication of
parallel cases. In criminal law the Penal Code, pub-
lished in 1870 by the minister, Laureano P'iguerola, is
in force. In many respects it betrays the spirit of
the Revolution, during which it originated, and for
this reason the Catholic and Conservative elements
are demanding its reform in many points. The com-
mercial code now in force is that of 1SS5, pubhshed
by the minister, Fr. Silvela. Judicial procedure is
governed by the Law of Civil Suits (Ei\juwiamienlo
Ciril) published by the minister, Alvarez Bugallal.
in 1881.
Although the old privileged jurisdictions have been abolished, and all Spaniards are equal before the law, there is still the military jurisdiction (juero militar), certain specified cases being reserved for the mili- tary tribunals, and the ecclesiastical jurisdiction {Juero ecksidstico), by which the rights of the Church to take cognizance of certain cases are safeguarded.
