Senate of Spain

The Senado is the upper house of the Spanish Parliament and at the same time the chamber of territorial representation, ( not elected members directly ) roughly similar to the Bundesrat in Germany, the Federal Council in Austria (not directly elected ) and the Council of States in Switzerland ( directly elected ). The Senate has 259 members currently, 208 of which are the following procedure for elected by universal, free, equal, direct and secret ballot:

• Each province elects four senators (regardless of population).
• The large islands of Gran Canaria, Mallorca and Tenerife select three senators.
• The smaller islands of Ibiza -Formentera, Menorca, Fuerteventura, Gomera, Hierro, Lanzarote and La Palma shall choose one senator.
• The African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla elect two senators each.

In addition, the regional parliaments of Spain's Autonomous Communities shall each appoint a senator and another per million population in the respective community. The number of Senators so appointed shall be adjusted every ten years to the population development and is therefore variable. In total, there are about 50 senators who are sent by indirect election to the Senate. The senate is elected for four years.

Current President of the Senate is the politician Francisco Javier Rojo. The last elections were held on March 9, 2008. The seat of the Senate is located in the Plaza de la Marina in Madrid.