Since its transition to democracy in the late 1970s, Spain has been organized in a quasi-federal system called the "State of Autonomies". Each Autonomous Community is required by the Constitution to have its own three-branched system of government with its basic rules codified in a special law called a Statute of Autonomy, a sort-of regional constitution. Although there is no Constitutional requirement imposed upon regional elections other than that they must be based in proportional methods, all regional legislatures are unicameral, their members being elected in multi-member constituencies matching the provinces in the Autonomous Community with seats allocated to party lists using the D'Hondt method.
Autonomous Cities The cities of Ceuta and Melilla are explicitly empowered by the Constitution to form Autonomous Communities on their own. Such provision was exercised by the respective City Councils in 1995, but not to its full extent: instead, the cities decided to adopt a regime between a normal city and a full-fledged Autonomous Community, with the main differences being:Spanish Official Gazette: Estatuto de Autonomía para Ceuta Spanish Official Gazette: Estatuto de Autonomía para Melilla The Assemblies of Ceuta and Melilla assume all the powers of the old City Councils, with the new Mayor-President assuming the role of the old Mayor. In particular, meetings of the Assemblies are presided over by the President of the City instead of having a separate Speaker of the Parliament like most legislatures. Their legislatures are not allowed to pass primary legislation except on matters specifically allowed by the Spanish Cortes. Nevertheless, they are allowed to pass secondary legislation regarding matters far beyond the normal competences of cities in Spain. In compensation for not being able to pass their own primary legislation, Ceuta and Melilla can formally introduce legislation in the Spanish Cortes, a privilege not held by other cities, not even the capital Madrid. Elections to the cities' legislatures are fixed not to a certain date (like those of most Autonomous Communities), but to the date of the Spanish local elections. The writs are issued through a Royal Decree of the Spanish Government, while in all other Autonomous Communities (even in those with fixed election dates) it is the regional President who issues a decree dissolving the legislature and mandating elections to be held at the usually pre-fixed date.
City Legislature nameLocal name Members Mayor-PresidentParty Last electionFixed Ceuta Assembly of CeutaSp. Asamblea de Ceuta 25 Juan Jesús Vivas LaraPeople's Party 28 May 2023By Spanish law Melilla Assembly of Melilla Sp. Asamblea de Melilla 25 Juan José Imbroda OrtizPeople's Party 28 May 2023By Spanish law
Autonomous Communities Except for Andalusia, the Basque Country, Catalonia and Galicia, which were created by a special fast procedure, most communities have very similar Statutes of Autonomy and election laws. Elections in those communities are fixed to a certain common date, which is currently "the fourth Sunday of May each four years",Madrid Assembly: Statute of Autonomy of Madrid, §10.7 so regional Presidents cannot trigger a snap election nor select the final election date from a range of close dates. However, there have been occasions when the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly has been forced to call an out-of-sync election because the legislature was deadlocked in the President election. In those cases, the next election still takes place at the fixed common date, causing the new term out of the fresh elections to be shorter than normal: see President of Madrid#The 6th term scandal.
On the other hand, Presidents of communities created by the "fast procedure" can select the actual election date and trigger snap elections, and have frequently done so, particularly in the Basque Country and Catalonia. The Andalusian elections are usually set to coincide with the Spanish general elections, but again, there is no requisite to that effect in the Andalusian legislation.
Community Legislature nameLocal names Seat Members President Last electionFixed Andalusia Andalusian ParliamentSp. Parlamento de Andalucía Seville 109Jesús AguirrePP17 May 2026By President Aragon Aragonese CortsAra. Cortz d'Aragón Sp. Cortes de Aragón Zaragoza 67María NavarroPP 8 February 2026By President Asturias General Junta of the Principality of AsturiasAst. Xunta Xeneral del Principáu d'AsturiesSp. Junta General del Principado de Asturias Oviedo 45Juan CofiñoPSOE 28 May 2023By law Balearic Islands Parliament of the Balearic IslandsCat. Parlament de les Illes BalearsSp. Parlamento de las Islas Baleares Palma 59 Gabriel Le SenneVox 28 May 2023By President Basque Country Basque ParliamentBa. Eusko LegebiltzarraSp. Parlamento Vasco Vitoria-Gasteiz 75Bakartxo TejeriaPNV 21 April 2024By President Canary Islands Canarian ParliamentSp. Parlamento de Canarias Santa Cruz de Tenerife 70Astrid PérezPP 28 May 2023By President Cantabria Parliament of CantabriaSp. Parlamento de Cantabria Santander 35María José González RevueltaPP 28 May 2023By law Castile–La Mancha Cortes of Castile-La ManchaSp. Cortes de Castilla-La Mancha Toledo 33Pablo BellidoPSOE 28 May 2023By law Castile and Leon Cortes of Castile and LeónCast. Cortes de Castilla y León Valladolid 81Francisco VázquezPP 15 March 2026By President Catalonia Parliament of CataloniaCat. Parlament de CatalunyaOc. Parlament de CatalonhaSp. Parlamento de Cataluña Barcelona 135Josep RullJxCat 12 May 2024By President Extremadura Extremaduran AssemblySp. Asamblea de ExtremaduraMérida 65Manuel NaharroPP 21 December 2025By President Galicia Parliament of GaliciaGal. Parlamento de GaliciaSp. Parlamento de Galicia Santiago de Compostela 75Miguel Ángel SantalicesPP 18 February 2024By President La Rioja Parliament of La RiojaSp. Parlamento de La Rioja Logroño 33Marta Fernández CornagoPP 28 May 2023By law Madrid Madrid AssemblySp. Asamblea de Madrid Madrid 135Enrique OssorioPP 28 May 2023By law Region of Murcia Regional Assembly of MurciaSp. Asamblea Regional de Murcia Cartagena 45María Visitación Martínez PP 28 May 2023By law Navarre Parliament of NavarreBa. Nafarroako ParlamentuaSp. Parlamento de Navarra Pamplona-Iruña 50Unai HualdeGBai 28 May 2023By President Valencian Community Valencian CortsVal. Corts ValencianesSp. Cortes Valencianas Valencia 99 María de los Llanos MassóVox 28 May 2023By President
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