Project of 1873 Federal Constitution

La nación española reunida en Cortes Constituyentes, deseando asegurar la libertad, cumplir la justicia y  realizar el fin humano a que está llamada en la civilización, decreta y sanciona el siguiente Código fundamental: [...] Toda persona encuentra asegurados en la República, sin que ningún poder tenga facultades para cohibirlos, ni ley ninguna autoridad para mermarlos, todos los derechos naturales. [...]

Art. 1: Componen la Nación española los Estados de Andalucía Alta, Andalucía Baja, Aragón, Asturias,  Baleares, Canarias, Castilla la Nueva, Castilla la Vieja, Cataluña, Cuba, Extremadura, Galicia, Murcia, Navarra, Puerto–Rico, Valencia, Regiones Vascongadas. Los estados podrán conservar las actuales provincias y modificarlas según sus necesidades territoriales. [...]

Art. 39: La forma de gobierno de la Nación española es la República Federal.

Art. 40: En la organización política de la Nación española, todo lo individual es de la pura competencia  del individuo, todo lo municipal es del municipio, todo lo regional es del Estado y todo lo nacional es de la Federación.

Art. 41: Todos los poderes son electivos, amovibles y responsables.

Art. 42: La soberanía reside en todos los ciudadanos, y se ejerce en representación suya por los
organismos políticos de la República, constituida por medio del sufragio universal. [...]

Art. 45: El poder de la Federación se divide en Poder legislativo, Poder ejecutivo, Poder judicial y Poder  de relación entre estos Poderes. [...]

Art. 49: El Poder de relación será ejercido por el Presidente de la República. [...]

Art. 92. Los Estados tienen completa autonomía económico-administrativa y toda la autonomía política compatible con la existencia de la Nación.

Art. 93. Los Estados tienen la facultad de darse una Constitución política que no podrá en ningún caso contradecir a la presente Constitución.

Art. 94. Los Estados nombran sus Gobiernos respectivos y sus Asambleas legislativas por sufragio
universal.

17 de julio de 1873
Classification

It is a political and legal text, it is the draft or project of the 1873 constitution in wich can see an extract of several articles, but it wasn’t finally approved. The draf was written by Emilio Castelar and discussed by the Republican Cortes during the summer of 1973. It's a primary source, and it's a public and official document, Because everyone can read it. It corresponds to 1873.

Analysis

As for the contents, speaks of the rights and freedoms, both individual and collective, the organization of powers, relations with the Church and territorial management.

In the first article the territorial organization of the Nation is established, divided into different states, corresponding to the traditional regions of the Peninsular and the archipelagoes (island), except for the case of Andalusia, divided into two regions, to which are added and Cuba Puerto Rico, being thus established its integration in the nation and losing therefore the colonial character.

Articles 39 and 40 refer to the organization of the State. The constitutional draft 1873 establishes a federal republic as a model of government and a political-territorial hierarchy in which the nation-state is constituted and represented by the Federation of Regions, set out in Article First.

The type of sovereignty is determined in Article 42 which establishes the popular sovereignty. Also, this article establishes suffrage universal as a system for the election of the representatives of the citizens in the republican institutions. Universal suffrage is, even in 1873, exclusively male.

Finally, Articles 45 and 49 refer to the division of powers. As is mandatory in democratic system, the 1873 draft of Constitution establishes the separation of powers: legislative, executive and judicial powers-the three classical ones, and a fourth power, the Power of relationship between the above mentioned and which is exerted solely by the Republic president. This fourth power is new in the Spanish constitutionalism and is determined by the federal character of political system that this constitutional project attempted to establish.

In August 1973, the draft constitution was finally rejected because no satisfactions to anyone and most political groups disagreed.

Conclusion

It’s a fragment of the 1873 draft constitution which includes several articles in regarding the governance model, bill of rights, sovereignty, division powers and form of territorial administration.

This will have great importance politically, being the first constitutional proposal from the Spanish political history would try to find a solution to an issue that would do nothing but rise over time: the territorial organization of our state.