After the death of General Franco, the Spanish government has evolved as a constitutional monarchy. The King serves as the head of the state. His functions consist of ratifying laws, promulgating and dissolving the legislature, and proposing candidates for the office of the Prime Minister. He is also the head of the armed forces. The Prime Minister is the head of the Spanish government. After being proposed by the King, a candidate for this office must be approved by the legislature. The Spanish government has a two legislature houses, the Congress of Deputies and the Senate. Members of the 350-seat Congress of Deputies are elected by popular vote. Of the 259 members of the Senate, 208 are directly elected, while 51 are appointed by regional legislatures. All legislators serve four-year terms. Each of the autonomous communities has its own parliament and regional government.

The dual chambered parliament of Spanish government is called, The Cortes or Cortes Generales. It has two houses, or chambers: the Upper house or Senate and the Lower house or Congress of Deputies. This form of the Spanish parliament was first established in or around the ninth century, which evolved into a more refined modern system over hundreds of years owing to the political changes in Spain. The Cortes has been assigned powers to pass new laws and also to make changes in the constitution of Spain. In order to pass changes to the Spanish constitution, it is necessary to get a majority of the votes in both the Lower and Upper houses. The Cortes shares its governmental authority with that of the parliament of the European Union.

The two houses of the Cortes in the Spanish government execute several functions which have been bestowed upon them according to the constitution. Significant decisions are collectively decided by the Senate and Congress of Deputies working in concert. These decisions include but are not limited to making new laws, passing national budgets and questioning the ministers. Both the houses of the Cortes meet twice a year according to a regular schedule. These two sessions are from February to June and September to December of each calendar year. In some emergency situations, there could be an extra session for which both the houses of the Spanish government can meet to make a decision on the vital issue.

Any Spanish citizen having voting rights can become a member of the Spanish Parliament if they are elected. However, civil servants, military and police personnel who are in service, members and judges of constitutional or judicial courts and electoral commission personnel are not eligible for election as members of Spanish Parliament. The Spanish government pays the members of the Cortes with fixed remunerations, perks, traveling allowances, subsidies and other special privileges for their tenure as members of the parliament.