PARLIAMENT OF GALICIA

GENERAL INFORMATION:

• Country (area and population): SPAIN 504,645 km² 46.449.565 inhabitants (National Statistics Institute, 1st January 2015)

• Region (area and population): GALICIA 29,574 km² 2.732.347 inhabitants (National Statistics Institute, 1st January 2015)

• Regional Government: XUNTA DE GALICIA (GOVERNMENT OF GALICIA) • Competences of the Region: those contemplated in the Statute of Autonomy (framework law 1/1981, 6th April).

General information on the Parliament:

Location: SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA Language: SPANISH AND GALICIAN Date of establishment: 1981 Website: www.parlamentodegalicia.gal

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DUTIES OF THE PARLIAMENT

Outline of the Parliament’s responsibilities:

Legislative and budgetary responsibilities, election and dissolution of the Regional’s Government and President, control of and political support for the Executive. Moreover, the Parliament has, under the Spanish Constitution, Legislative initiative before the Congress of Deputies, appoints three senators to the Senate and is entitled before the constitutional Court.

MAKE-UP

The parliament comprises a total of 75 MPs

Distribution in terms of sex and mean age: 34 women/41 men (47 years of age)

Electoral system proportional (D'Hondt formula).

Mandate 4 years

Voting requirements (right to vote) Article 2 of Law 8/1985, on elections to the Parliament of Galicia: “1. Electors shall be those persons, who qualify as being Galician pursuant to Article 3 of the Statute of Autonomy, who are of legal age and who enjoy the right to vote. 2. In order to exercise the right to vote, registration in the electoral roll is essential.”

Eligibility requirements (standing as a candidate) Article 4.1 of Law 8/1985, on elections to the Parliament of Galicia: "Those citizens who, qualifying as electors, are not subject to any of the causes for non-eligibility appearing in the general electoral legislation shall be eligible."

Make-up of the Parliament as a result of the most recent parliamentary elections.

Political Parties and number of seats: PARTIDO POPULAR DE GALICIA; PARTIDO DOS SOCIALISTAS DE GALICIA-PARTIDO SOCIALISTA OBRERO ESPAÑOL; ALTERNATIVA GALEGA DE ESQUERDA (EU-ANOVA); BLOQUE NACIONALISTA GALEGO

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Parliamentary Groups

Requirements to form a parliamentary group:

To comprise a minimum of 5 MPs, except to the joint parliamentary group.

Political group PARTIDO POPULAR (P.P.)

Name: Grupo Parlamentario Popular de Galicia Spokesperson: Mr. Pedro Puy Fraga Number of MPs: 41

Contact information: Telephone: 981 551510

Political Group EN MAREA

Name: Grupo Parlamentario En Marea Spokesperson: Mr. Luis Villares Naveira Number of MPs: 14

Contact information: Telephone: 981 551584

Political Group PARTIDO DOS SOCIALISTAS DE GALICIA-PARTIDO SOCIALISTA OBRERO ESPAÑOL (PSdeG-PSOE)

Name: Grupo Parlamentario dos Socialistas de Galicia Spokesperson: Mr. Xoaquín Fernández Leiceaga Number of MPs: 14

Contact information: Telephone: 981 551530

Political Group BLOQUE NACIONALISTA GALEGO (B.N.G.)

Name: Grupo Parlamentario do Bloque Nacionalista Galego. Spokesperson: Mrs. Ana Belén Pontón Mondelo Number of MPs: 6

Contact information: Telephone: 981 551545

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THE PARLIAMENT'S GOVERNING BODIES

The President

Manner of election, mandate and responsibilities:

Election by majority in the in the constitutive sitting of the Parliament of 24th October 2016

Duties: Representation and management of the Chamber

Information on the current President: MIGUEL ÁNGEL SANTALICES VIEIRA

Contact information:

RÚA DO HORREO, 63 15701 SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA TEL.: 981 55 13 01 Fax: 981 55 14 00 [email protected]

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Other bodies (Parliamentary Committee/Spokespersons’ committee/…)

Parliamentary Committee

Make up:

 President: Mr. Miguel Ángel Santalices Vieira  First Deputy President: Mr. Diego Calvo Pouso  Second Deputy President: Mrs. Eva Solla Fernández  Secretary: Mrs. Raquel Arias Rodríguez  Deputy Secretary: Mrs. Concepción Burgo López

Method of election: Election in the constitutive sitting of the Parliament.

Duties: Responsible for the collegiate representation of the Chamber in those official acts it attends, interpreting and completing the Regulations, where applicable, in the event of doubt or omission; adopting measures conducive to the organization of work and to the internal regime and governance of the Chamber ; preparing draft budgets and implementing the same subsequent to approval; qualifying parliamentary deeds and documents; programing the general lines of actions for the Chamber and setting the Schedule of activities for the Plenary Sitting and Committees, among other duties.

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Committee of Spokespersons

Make-up: The members of the Parliamentary Committee, referred to in the previous section, and the spokespersons from the parliamentary groups:

 Popular Political Group: Mr. Pedro Puy Fraga  En Marea Political Group: Mr. Luis Villares Naveira  Socialistas de Galicia Political Group: Mr. Xoaquín Fernández Leiceaga  Bloque Nacionalista Galego Political Group: Mrs. Ana Belén Pontón Mondelo

Method of election: Appointed by the parliamentary groups.

Duties: Establishing the criteria which help to order and facilitate debates and parliamentary tasks; setting the schedule of activities for committees; deciding on the Commission that is competent for dealing with draft legislation and proposals; setting the number of members for each parliamentary group that make up the commissions and assigning the seats in the chamber to the different parliamentary groups.

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THE PARLIAMENT'S OPERATIONAL BODIES

Plenary Sitting

Make-up: All the MPs in the Chamber.

Duties: This is the supreme body of the Chamber, in which all matters for which it has competence are finally and definitively debated.

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Commissions:

Make-up: Unless otherwise stipulated, commissions are made up of the MPs appointed by the parliamentary groups, in the number which, with respect to each one, is indicated by the Parliamentary Committee, with the Committee of Spokespersons having been heard, and proportional to the number of MPs in the Chamber. All parliamentary groups have the right to have at least one representative on each Commission.

Duties: These commissions are the most important instruments in parliamentary work, as they have competences in those projects, proposals entrusted to them by the Parliamentary Committee.

Types: The most important are the legislative standing commissions, of which there are currently eight:

1 - Institutional, General Administration, Justice and Home affairs. 2 – Land Management, Public Works, Environment and Services. 3 – Economy, Tax and Budgets 4 – Education and Culture 5 – Healthcare, Social Policy and Employment 6 – Industry, Energy, Commerce and Tourism 7 - Agriculture, Food, Cattle and Rural Setting 8 – Fishing and Seafood Farming.

These commissions prepare the debate for the Plenary Sittings on draft legislation and proposals which correspond to them owing to the matter in hand.

Also classed as standing commissions are those that must be established by legal provision, such as the following:

 on Regulations  on the Statutes of MPs  on Petitions.

The following commissions are also non-legislative standing commissions:

 Commission for relations with the Audit Council.  Commission for Controlling the Radio-TV Company of Galicia.

The Galician Parliament has also established three non-standing commissions for the current parliamentary term:

• Commission for the Study on Disability Policies • Commission on Road Safety • Commission for the Study of Gender Equality and Women Rights

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ADMINISTRATION OF THE PARLIAMENT

GENERAL INFORMATION

The personnel in the service of the Administration in the Parliament of Galicia is classified into the following: a) Career civil servant personnel. b) Temporary administrative personnel. c) Contract personnel (either permanent or temporary). d) Temporary advisory personnel.

Personnel: 79 active administrative workers

The career civil servant personnel in the Administration of the Parliament of Galicia comprise the following: a) Legal counsel body of the Parliament of Galicia. b) Higher body of the Parliament of Galicia. c) Management of the Parliament of Galicia. d) Administrative body of the Parliament of Galicia. e) Auxiliary body of the Parliament of Galicia.

DUTIES

a) Legal counsel body of the Parliament of Galicia.

Responsible for the duties of providing legal and technical advice for the President’s Office and the Parliamentary Committee, commission committees and for papers, as well as the drafting, in accordance with the agreements adopted by these bodies, of the rulings, reports and opinions and the taking of the corresponding minutes; the representation and defence of the Parliament before the courts and the Constitutional Court; the duties of top-level studies; and, where applicable, those Administration management duties which may be entrusted to it as determined in the Regulations for the organization and operation and in the corresponding job listings.

The legal counsel of the Parliament of Galicia is classified in professional group A.

b) Higher body of the Parliament of Galicia.

Responsible for duties of providing top-level facultative assistance and advice characteristic of the corresponding speciality and the preparation of reports, studies, technical developments, regulatory projects and proposals, as well as the exercising of management duties in the Administration of the Chamber, as specified in the job description.

The higher body of the Parliament of Galicia is classified in professional group A.

c) Management body of the Parliament of Galicia.

Responsible for facultative advisory duties characteristic of the corresponding speciality; administrative management and preparation of reports, studies, technical

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developments and proposals; and the leadership of units as specified in the job description.

The management body of the Parliament of Galicia is classified in professional group B.

d) Administrative body of the Parliament of Galicia.

Responsible for administrative and collaborative, preparatory, complementary procedures and those derived from the top-level duties; dealing with secretariats, administrative assistance, shorthand and typing tasks, registration, filing, word processing and other computer applications; publishing and transcription work; and any other similar tasks which may be necessary for the development thereof.

The administrative body of the Parliament of Galicia is classified in professional group C.

e) Auxiliary body of the Parliament of Galicia.

Responsible for custody and surveillance within the Parliament; controlling internal movement, dealing with and accompanying individuals; lending assistance during the sittings and meetings of the Chamber’s bodies; telephony, correspondence, copying, transport and distribution of documents; providing services suited to the characteristics of the body's duties in archives, libraries and storerooms; driving official vehicles; complying with messages and orders received in matters relating to the functions of the Chamber; collaborating in formal acts organized in the Parliament of Galicia; supporting the administrative units or the parliamentary activity entrusted to them; and any other which may be similar or required for the development thereof.

The auxiliary body of the Parliament of Galicia is classified in professional group D.

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Secretariat General

Secretary General: José Antonio Sarmiento Méndez

Duties: Technical and advisory duties for the governing bodies of the Parliament.

Contact information:

RÚA DO HORREO, 63 15701 SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA TEL.: 981 55 13 20 / 21 Fax: 981 55 14 08 [email protected]

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Organizational structure of the Parliament Administration

Description

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Bodies/Departments/Sections

Enumeration

The Administration of Parliament has the following organizational structure:

a) Parliamentary Bureau b) Presidency c) Chief Clerk's Office. Secretariat General o General Accounts and Economic Matters Unit - Deputy Accounts Unit o Human Resources and Internal Regime Unit o Parliamentary support Unit o Publications Unit o Information Technology Unit

Duties

a) Parliamentary Bureau

1. The Committee is the collegiate institutional body which, under the direction of the President, is responsible for the Administration of the Chamber.

2. In addition to the competences conferred upon the committee in the Regulations of the Parliament and the Statute of the personnel of the Chamber, it has the following specific competences in the organisational and administrative management matters:

The setting of the general management guidelines for the Units of the Chamber as well as the approval and modification of the regulations that will regulate its organisation and operation.

b) The creation, modification and elimination of administrative units.

c) The approval of administrative provisions of an internal nature or of external legal relevance.

d) The drafting of contracts and administrative and asset-management documents in the terms established in the Regulations.

e) The interpretation and integration of the regulations to be applied in the area of personnel in line with the criteria and principles of basic State and autonomic legislation in the matter of the civil service.

f) The regulation of its budgetary and accounting regime.

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b) Presidency

In addition to the competencies conferred upon the President by the Regulations of the Parliament and the Staff Regulations, he/she is responsible for top level management of the Parliament’s staff and administration, the development of organizational and management guidelines agreed upon by the Parliamentary Commission, and the adoption of the measures necessary to maintain the parliamentary setting in order.

He/she is also responsible for signing contracts and administrative for enforcing administrative, asset management and enforceable orders in the terms established in the Staff Regulations.

It is also an exclusive competence of the president to determine the organizational structure of the Presidency Cabinet. c) Chief Clerk's Office. Secretariat General

1. The Chief Clerk, under the direction of the President and the Committee of the Parliament, is the head of all personnel and all services in the Parliament, except for the President's Office, and is responsible for the technical and advisory duties of the latter's governing bodies, assisted by the members of the members Parliament's Counsel attached to the Chief Clerk's Office.

2. In addition to the duties inherent to the post of counsel, the Deputy Chief Clerk assists the Chief Clerk in the exercising of his/her duties. He/she will stand in for the latter in the event of vacancy, absence or illness.

The Deputy Chief Clerk shall be appointed from among the active members of counsel by the Parliamentary Committee, at the proposal of the President’s Office.

3. The IT Department is directly responsible to the Chief Clerk’s Office.

4. The Chief Clerk’s Office is structured into the following administrative areas:

a) Parliamentary Management Directorate b) Directorate of General Accounts and Economic Matters. d) Directorate of Human Resources and Internal Regime

Number of employees:

79 active administrative workers Temporary advisory personnel: 12 Temporary administrative personnel: 3

Contact information:

D. José Antonio Sarmiento Méndez RÚA DO HORREO, 63 15701 SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA TEL.: 981 55 13 20 / 21 Fax: 981 55 14 08 [email protected]

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d) Presidency Cabinet

The Presidency Cabinet is in charge of providing technical and administrative support to the President which includes the preparation of documentation for plenary sessions, control and management of guests to the plenary, the creation of electronic and documentary databases of the Presidency activities. Programming and implementing matters linked to the Conference of the Presidents of the Spanish Regional Parliaments (COPREPA) and to the Conference of European Regional Legislative Assemblies (CALRE) as well as any other similar body. Also it prepares the Presidency activities agenda, the reception, classification and reply of Presidency correspondence; look out to requests for information, management and updating of files; the proposal, supervision and monitoring the signatures of agreements.

Furthermore, the Presidency Cabinet is in charge of protocol activities, communication and citizens’ relations which boost the knowledge of the Galician Parliament, give citizenship information and develop educational programs on social values awareness citizens (values of dialogue, cohabitation, mutual understanding).

Contact information for CALRE

Contact information (postal address, e-mail and telephone):

Pedro Rojo Otero [email protected] Head Of Cabinet Presidency of Galician Parliament Tlf. +34 981551302

Mrs. María Montoiro Salvado: [email protected] Cabinet officer Galician Parliament Tlf. +34 981551380

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SEAT OF THE PARLIAMENT

The Pazo do Hórreo

• History

The building which is currently the seat of the Parliament of Galicia, known as the Pazo do Hórreo, was constructed at the start of the 20th century to house the Veterinary School and ancillary services of livestock station and experimental farm.

In 1925 the building and its annexes were taken over by the Army, which occupied it until it was sold to the Government of Galicia to house the Parliament of Galicia.

After the awarding of the tender called by the Parliamentary Committee for the refurbishment of the building, in which the project submitted by the architect Manuel Andrés Reboredo was selected, the Pazo do Hórreo started functioning as the seat of the Galician Parliament on 1 March 1989.

MAIN FAÇADE

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• Description

The building of the Pazo do Hórreo comprises a basement, ground floor, mezzanine and upper floor. Both courtyards have recently been excavated to the basement level to house the offices of the MPs.

Located on the ground floor are the offices assigned to the parliamentary groups, the libraries, meeting rooms and two large halls for formal ceremonies. One of these, the "Salón dos Reis", in which the portraits of kings painted by Manuel Matas are on display, is used for ceremonial events and for the investitures of the Presidents of the Government of Galicia, as well as a conference and reception hall.

Also on the ground floor are the Parliament of Galicia’s two libraries. One of them is known as the Ricardo Carvallo Calero Library, as it houses his own private library, acquired by the Parliament of Galicia, as well as the bibliographic collection of the Galician writer Elena Quiroga and her husband, Dalmiro de la Válgoma, who was permanent Secretary of the Royal Academy of History. Recently, part of the library of the Vilar Ponte brothers, founders of the "Irmandades da Fala", has been acquired, as well as a large part of their personal archives. In turn, the General Library’s reading room is a spacious area with individual, well-lit booths for working comfortably.

The upper or second floor houses the offices of the President and the members of the Parliamentary Committee, the meeting rooms for the Parliamentary Committee, the parliamentary commissions, for presentations the Spokesperson's Committee, and all the other administrative departments of the institution.

LIBRARY

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The dimensions of the corridors which line the building in the form of a rectangle are the same as on the ground floor; i.e., four metres wide and seven metres high, and adorning the walls is Fonán’s Geometric Chart, as well as a valuable collection of post-war Galician paintings (Carlos Maside, Luis Seoane, Urbano Lugrís and Manuel Colmeiro), as well as new artists (Noemí Otamendi, Sabela Dopazo Vieitez and Mario Feal Romero, among others).

THE BUILDING’S INTERNAL CORRIDORS

With regard to sculpture, worthy of note are the magnificent pieces by Antón García Patiño, Acisclo Manzano, Buciños, Silverio Rivas, Victor Corral, Fernando Blanco Guerra and Leiro.

Finally, a mezzanine was constructed between the two floors to provide direct access to the Plenary Chamber, with a characteristic that pervades the entire structure, the use of wood as a building material. The Chamber is overlooked by a large stained-glass window in the shape of a low arch, designed by Isaac Díaz Pardo (Santiago de Compostela, 1920-2012).

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PLENARY CHAMBER - HEMICYLE

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The external part of the building is surrounded by a modern fence in the form of rusted steel lances, and between the fence and the building is a wooded area, with numerous species, forming a true botanical garden.

EXTERNAL VIEW OF THE MAIN FAÇADE

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