Constitution Day Spain

Spain's Constitution Day celebrates the approval of a new constitution of Spain in 1978. The passing of this constitution led to the end of absolute monarchy and was an important step towards Spanish democracy.

After the end of the Franco dictatorship, the Spanish Parliament was able to come together and draft and approve a constitution, bringing back the monarchy and democracy. The Spanish people approved it in a referendum on Dec. 6, 1978. This day is important to the Spanish people because this constitution set out how the government should be run and what powers it should have.  Spain had traditionally been a monarchy, and this was reinstated. This time it was in a more constitutional form, where the monarch has a very limited role.  

Interestingly, this particular day has also been informally adopted as a day to stage protests of government policies or inequities in society.  The Spanish take very seriously their right to peacefully protest and make their feelings known to their politicians.