Government and Institutions of the Canary Islands
Regional Institutions of the Canary Islands
Parliament
The Canary Islands Parliament is the representative body of the people and is composed of 70 regional deputies elected by universal suffrage.
Its main functions include:
- Choosing the Prime Minister from among its members
- Approving annual budgets
- Exercising economic control
- Overseeing the political actions of the Government
- Presenting bills
Government
The Government of the Canary Islands emerged from the Parliament and holds the executive and administrative power of the Autonomous Community.
It is composed of the President of the Government, Vice President, and Directors of the existing Councils. It cannot have more than 11 members.
Currently, there are ten Departments:
- Presidency, Justice, and Security
- Economy and Finance
- Public Works and Transport
- Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and Food
- Education, Universities, Culture, and Sports
- Social Welfare, Youth, and Housing
- Health
- Environment and Planning
- Employment, Industry, and Commerce
- Tourism
The President is elected by Parliament and has the following functions:
- Designating Government members
- Chairing the Government, directing and coordinating its activities
- Representing the region in state institutions
Superior Court of Justice
The Superior Court of Justice is the highest organ of the administration of justice and is located in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Its chairman is appointed by the king.
Location of Institutions
The location of the institutions is shared by the two provincial capitals.
- Parliament (autonomous entity) has its permanent headquarters in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
- The Delegation of the Government (central power entity) is in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
- The Presidency of the Government (autonomous entity) alternates between the capital cities of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria for each four-year legislative session. When the President is situated in Tenerife, the Vice President resides in the other capital, and vice versa in the next legislature.
Provinces of the Canary Islands
The Canary Islands are organized into two provinces, which are administrative entities that appeared in 1927. Currently, they lack their own administrative bodies as recognized by the Statute of Autonomy of the Canaries.
- The eastern province, called the province of Las Palmas, comprises the islands of Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, and La Graciosa. Its capital is Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
- The western province is the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, which includes the four remaining islands: El Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera, and Tenerife. Its capital city is Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
The provinces are administrative entities of the centralized state that predate the Constitution, making them somewhat irrelevant in the new autonomous state. Now, the institutions of the Autonomous Community represent all the islands. The Statute of Canary autonomy does not include any provincial body. The powers, means, and resources that previously corresponded to the inter-provincial Associations were transferred to the Autonomous institutions.
The trend is toward the creation of regional federations of municipalities and islands, moving beyond the provincial level.
Island Cabildos
The archipelagic nature of the Canary Islands determines the territorial organization of the Autonomous Community, with the island as the central entity. The island serves as the framework for economic, social, and political activity, and therefore all planning is done at the island level. Each island has a Cabildo.
The Cabildo is the governing body of the island. They were created in modern times with the Councils Act on July 11, 1912, in an attempt to resolve the island dispute between the two central islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria in their struggle for the capital. Since their inception, they have played an important role in the development and organization of the insular space.
Subsequently, the Spanish Constitution of 1978 recognized the existence of the Cabildos as insular management bodies, and the Statute of Autonomy of the Canaries, 1982 recognized them as the governing body of the island and assigned them specific functions.
The Cabildos have diverse responsibilities in areas such as:
- Finance
- Water
- Agriculture
- Livestock
- Fishing
- Education
- Employment
- Youth
- Roads
- Housing
- Transport
- Environment
- Industry
- Commerce
- Social Action
- Health
- Sports
- Tourism
The Reformation of the Statute of 1996 further recognized them as independent Community institutions, thereby increasing their powers.
The Cabildos are simultaneously governing bodies, administrative entities, and representative bodies of each island, as well as institutions of the region. The islands are fully autonomous in the exercise of their own interests.
At the head of each Cabildo is its President, who is the highest representative of the island. The rest of the insular government members are the Vice President and Directors. They are elected by universal suffrage in special elections for this institution.