Principles of The Spanish National Movement, According to the Act of May 17, 1958
I Spain is a unity of destiny in the world order. The service of the country's unity, greatness and freedom is a sacred duty and a collective undertaking for all Spaniards.
II The Spanish nation regards it as a mark of honour to obey the law of God, according to the Holy Catholic Apostolic and Roman Church, the sole true church and the faith inseparable from the national consciousness which will inspire its legislation.
III. Spain, the root of a great family of peoples, to whom she feels bound in indissoluble brotherhood, aspires to the restoration of justice and peace between the nations.
IV. The unity between the land and men of Spain is inviolable. The integrity of the country and its independence are supreme demands on the national community. The Armed Forces of Spain as the guarantee of her security and the expression of our people's heroic virtues, must possess the strength required for the best service of the country.
V. The national community is founded on man as bearer of eternal values, and on the family as the basis of social life; but individual and collective interests will always be subordinated to the common welfare of the nation, formed of past, present and future generations. The law supports the rights of all Spaniards equally.
VI. The natural entities of social life-Family, Municipality and Guild - are the basic structures of the national community. Such institutions and corporations of other kinds as meet general social needs shall be supported so that they may share efficaciously in perfecting the aims of the national community.
VII. The Spanish people, united in an order of Law informed by the postulates of authority, freedom and service, form the National State. Its form, within the inmutable principles of the National Movement and the provisions of the Succession Act and the other Basic Laws, is that of the traditional, Catholic, social and representative Monarchy.
VIII. The representative character of the political order is the basic principle of our public institutions. The people's share in legislation and the other fundamental tasks of general interest shall be provided through the Family, the Municipality, the occupational Guild and other bodies that the laws may recognize, having organic representation for the purpose. All political organizations of whatever kind, apart from this representative system, shall be deemed illegal.
All Spaniards shall have access to public office and functions in accordance with their merits and abilities.
IX. All Spaniards are entitled: to independent justice, which shall be available free to those without financial means; to a general and professional education, which none need fail to obtain through want of material means; to the benefits of social assistance and security; and to an equitable distribution of the national income and of taxation. The State policy and laws shall be inspired by the Christian ideal of social justice, as reflected in the Labour Charter.
X. Work is recognized as the origin of the rank, duty and honour of Spaniards, and private property in all its forms is recognized as a right conditioned by its social function. Private enterprise, the basis of economic activity, shall be encouraged, canalized, and where necessary supplemented by State action.
XI. The Firm, an association of men and means for the purpose of production, forms a community of interests and a unity of aims. The relations between its components must be based on justice and mutual loyalty, and economic values shall be subordinated to those of the human and social order.
XII. The State shall endeavour, by all means in its power, to improve the physical and moral health of Spaniards and to ensure them the best conditions of work; to promote the country's economic progress by the improvement of agriculture, the extension of irrigation work and the social reform of the countryside; to seek the fairest use and distribution of the public credit; to safeguard and encourage prospecting and mining; to intensify the process of industrialization, to patronize scientific research and to promote maritime activities, as befits the large sea-faring population of Spain and her record as a sea power.
Source:Text of the Principles of the National Movement was made available in translation
through the courtesy of the Embassy of Spain, Washington, D.C.
This text is part of the Internet
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© Paul Halsall, July 1998
