Spain is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, established by the 1978 Spanish Constitution  (Constitución Española 1978 - CE). 

The Head of State is King Philip VI, whose role is largely symbolic and non-political.

Executive power lies with the Government, led by the President, and legislative power is exercised by the Cortes Generales, Spain’s two-chamber parliament.

The judiciary is independent, headed by the Supreme Court, with a separate Constitutional Court to oversee constitutional matters.

Spain has a decentralised territorial model. It consists of 17 Autonomous Communities (Comunidades Autónomas) and 2 Autonomous Cities (Ceuta and Melilla), each with a Statute of Autonomy and broad powers in areas such as education, health, and youth. These regions have their own Parliament, Government, and High Court of Justice, mirroring national institutions. 

A third level of governance is the local level, which includes more than 8,100 municipalities, each governed by a locally elected Council (Ayuntamiento). Some supra-municipal structures exist, such as Provincial Councils or Island Councils (Cabildos, Consells), with coordination roles. The size of Spain´s over 8,100 municipalities varies from 3 inhabitants to the more than 3,100,000 according to the National Institute of Statistics (Instituto Nacional de Estadística, INE).

Young people’s engagement with public institutions happens across all three levels, particularly at regional and local levels where youth councils, advisory bodies, and participation mechanisms are more prevalent ( see Section 5.3).

Spain is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, as described above in Section 5.1. 

Spain´s Cortes Generales is a parliament composed of two chambers, the Congress of Deputies (Congreso de los Diputados) and the Senate (Senado).

• the Congress of Deputies has 350 members, elected through proportional representation in 52 constituencies (Article 68 of the Spanish Constitution and Organic Law of Electoral Regime (LOREG)). It holds primary legislative authority and elects the President of the Government.
• The Senate represents territorial interests and has around 260 members, elected partly by direct vote and partly by appointment from regional parliaments. Its role is more limited compared to the Congress.

At the regional level, each Autonomous Community has a one chamber parliament. These parliaments vary in size and are elected by direct universal suffrage using proportional systems. They legislate in areas of devolved competence and are central to youth-related policymaking in their regions. 

At the local level, citizens elect municipal Councillors, who in turn elect the Mayor (Alcalde). Local elections also follow proportional representation. In some very small municipalities, governance occurs through an open council system (concejo abierto), a form of direct democracy. 

Voting in Spain is a right but not an obligation, and electoral abstention is not penalized. 

Elections are held at national, regional, and local levels, and citizens vote through direct universal suffrage using closed party lists and proportional representation. Voting rights are regulated by the Organic Law of Electoral Regime (Ley Orgánica de Régimen Electoral (LOREG) and more details can be found in Section 5.2. Ballots can be cast in person in polling stations or by mail, including from abroad by mail or in the corresponding consulates. Recent initiatives have introduced electronic voting terminals at polling stations, although remote online voting is not currently used.