National Assembly (Spain)

The National Assembly (Spanish: Asamblea Nacional) sometimes also referred to in Spanish as Asamblea Nacional Consultiva ("National Consultative Assembly") was a corporative chamber in Spain created by the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, charged with the task of drafting a new constitution. It was active from 1927 to 1929.

National Assembly Asamblea Nacional
Type
Type	consultative body
History
Established	1927
Disbanded	1929
Leadership
President	José Yanguas Messía
Meeting place
Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid

History and features

Described as the first corporative chamber created in Europe during the interwar period,[1] in the view of Boris Mirkine-Guetzévitch the corporative nature had been chosen in order "to subject Spain to that discipline that will free her from the democratic virus".[2]

It was created via Royal Decree from 12 September 1927 published in the Gaceta de Madrid on 14 September.[2] Lacking in legislative power, the body only had a "consultative" nature.[3] Initially set to have a minimum of 325 and a maximum of 375 members (known as asambleístas), its size was later increased up to 400 members, requiring members to have the Spanish citizenship, to be over 25 years old, and to be free from incriminatory sentences.[4] It allowed women to be members, although only after being given permission from their husbands.[4] The first session took place on 10 October 1927 and the last on 6 July 1929.[5]

The direct or indirect appointment by the government of the members of the National Assembly came to replace people's election.[4] Appointed by the regime, José Yanguas Messía became the president of the National Assembly.

The unimplemented Constitutional draft elaborated by the National Assembly had an anti-liberal and authoritarian character.[6] Made public in July 1929, it met the outright rejection from the Liberal, Monarchist and Republican forces in the opposition.[7] It even got to the point of raising criticism from within the National Assembly,[8] and not even the dictator found satisfactory several features and details of the draft.[9]

References

Citations

1. Pinto 2012, p. 130.
2. Giménez Martínez 2018, p. 135.
3. Ben-Ami 1977, p. 71.
4. Giménez Martínez 2018, p. 136.
5. "Dictadura de Primo de Rivera. Asamblea Nacional, 1923-1930". Congreso de los Diputados. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
6. Álvarez Chillida 1996, pp. 363–364.
7. Winkler 2015, p. 294.
8. González Calleja 2005, p. 153.
9. Casals 2004, p. 189.

Bibliography

• Álvarez Chillida, Gonzalo (1996). "El fracaso de un proyecto autoritario: el debate constitucional en la Asamblea Nacional de Primo de Rivera". Revista de Estudios Políticos. Madrid: Centro de Estudios Constitucionales (93). ISSN 0048-7694.
• Ben-Ami, Shlomo (1977). "The Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera: A Political Reassessment". Journal of Contemporary History. 12 (1): 65–84. JSTOR 260237.
• Casals, Xavier (2004). "Miguel Primo de Rivera, el espejo de Franco". Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja. Madrid: Ediciones B. pp. 123–253. ISBN 84-666-1447-8.
• Giménez Martínez, Miguel Ángel (2018). "La representación política en España durante la dictadura de Primo de Rivera" (PDF). Estudos Históricos. Rio de Janeiro: Fundação Getulio Vargas. 31 (64). doi:10.1590/s2178-14942018000200002. ISSN 0103-2186.
• González Calleja, Eduardo (2005). La España de Primo de Rivera. La modernización autoritaria 1923-1930. Madrid: Alianza Editorial. ISBN 84-206-4724-1.
• Pinto, António Costa (2012). "The nature of Fascism revisited" (PDF). Social Science Monographs. Boulder: Columbia University Press.
• Winkler, Heinrich August (2015) [2011]. The Age of Catastrophe: A History of the West 1914–1945. ISBN 978-0-300-20489-6.