Spain celebrates the 44th anniversary of its Constitution

USPA NEWS - Spain celebrated the 44th anniversary of its Constitution on Tuesday, at a time of maximum political tension. Never before has the Spanish Constitution been so threatened, attacked by the far-left, Catalan and Basque pro-independence parties, and the ruling Socialist Party, which, according to the opposition, does not defend it vehemently enough. This 44th anniversary coincides with a constitutional reform underway, which eliminates the crime of sedition and will lower the penalties for embezzlement of public money. And it comes when Spanish society confronts the Government over a law that, trying to protect victims of sexist violence, has only managed to release rapists and abusers.

The Spanish Parliament celebrated Constitution Day this Tuesday, December 6, marking the 44th anniversary of its approval in a referendum in 1978. The day began with an institutional act in which the president of the Congress of Deputies, Meritxell Batet, intervened. The president of Congress gave her speech on the steps of Parliament, accompanied by the president of the Senate, Ander Gil; the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez; and the representatives of the high institutions of the State.

“The Constitution expresses the generosity of each and every one of us; expresses great agreement on the fundamentals of our system of government,” said Meritxell Batet in her speech. “Celebrating Constitution Day is celebrating our political community,” she added. The president of Congress warned that “the vigor of the constitutional system depends on the strength of the institutions,” but insisted that “institutions belong to citizens. Institutions gain or lose prestige also for what is done with them”. Notice to the Government and the main opposition party, who do not agree on the renewal of the General Council of the Judiciary, the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court. “When we have done something together, we have never regretted it,” said Meritxell Batet. And she affirmed that “our grandparents had a dream and we are living in it.”

The president of Congress also had words for Ukraine, reiterating the Spanish commitment against the Russian invasion and stressing that Spain "has felt like a border with Ukraine" since the war began.

Representatives of all State institutions and regional governments were invited to the institutional act; the president of the majority opposition party, Alberto Núñez Feijoo; deputies and senators; former presidents of the Government and of the two Chambers of Parliament; constitutional speakers and a representation of social agents and civil society. Only the ultra-right party Vox was absent from these events, which served the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, to accuse “the conservative and ultra-conservative opposition” of being “outside the Constitution.” Sánchez defended the work of his government, including the concessions to the pro-independence parties.

The commemoration of the anniversary of the Constitution began with the solemn act of raising the flag, organized by the Ministry of Defense and which this year, for the first time, was held at Carrera de San Jerónimo, where the Congress of Deputies is located. The president of Congress and the president of the Senate were received by the Chief of the Defense Staff (JEMAD), Admiral General Teodoro Esteban López Calderón. The Honors Unit, under the command of a Civil Guard captain, was made up of the Squad of Spenders, the Music Unit and a Mixed Company made up of a Section of the Army, a Section of the Navy, a Section of the Air Force and Space, and a Section of the Civil Guard.