Law 40/2006, of December 14, of the Statute of Spanish Citizenship in the Foreign Affairs, has changed the legal basis of the institutions of institutional participation of Spanish citizens abroad, such as the Council General de la Emigración, a consultative body and an adviser to the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, which is renamed the General Council of Spanish Citizenship Abroad, and the Spanish Residents ' Councils, as organs of advisory and advisory status to consular offices abroad.

Both agencies were regulated by Royal Decree 1339/1987 of 30 October on channels for the institutional participation of Spaniards residing abroad, with their successive modifications.

The General Council of Spanish Citizenship in the Foreign Affairs replaces the former General Council of Emigration and is governed by Royal Decree 230/2008 of 15 February, which regulates the General Council of Citizenship Spanish on the Exterior, as amended by Royal Decree 245/2009 of 27 February. Royal Decree 1960/2009 of 18 December 2009 on the Law of the Councils of Spanish Residents Abroad, for its part, regulates the provisions of Law 40/2006 of 14 December of the Statute of Citizenship Spanish on the Exterior, for the Councils of Spanish Residents repealing in turn Chapter I of the royal decree mentioned.

Article 11.1 of the aforementioned Royal Decree 1960/2009 instructs the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation on the normative development of the electoral procedure for the constitution of the Councils of Spanish Residents in the Foreign. The second final provision of the same royal decree enables the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and Labour and Immigration to lay down the rules necessary for their development.

In its virtue, prior to the report of the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, of the Ministry of Labour and Immigration and of State Law and of the General Council of Citizenship Spanish on the Exterior, I have:

CHAPTER I

Object and Scope

Article 1. Nature of the Spanish Residents ' Councils.

The Spanish Residents ' Councils are advisory and advisory bodies, attached to the Spanish consular offices abroad, whose nature, functions, scope of action, composition, choice and regime of It is governed by Law 40/2006, of 14 December, of the status of Spanish citizenship abroad, Royal Decree 1960/2009 of 18 December 2009, which regulates the Councils of Spanish Residents Abroad and is ministerial order.

Article 2. Dissolution of the Council of Spanish Residents.

The Council of Spanish Residents will be dissolved in case of vacancies for more than half of its members. In the event of the dissolution of a Council of Spanish Residents, if at least two years are missing for the end of their term of office in accordance with Article 7 of Royal Decree 1960/2009 of 18 December 2009 governing the Councils of Residents Spanish Abroad, the head of the consular post shall convene new elections, respecting the provisions referred to in Article 4 that are applicable. In the event that it is less than two years for the end of the term of office, the head of the consular post shall hold elections when the time comes in accordance with Article 10 of Royal Decree 1960/2009 of 18 December 2009, for which he is regulate the Councils of Spanish Residents Abroad and Article 4 of this ministerial order.

Article 3. Coverage of vacancies.

Whenever a member loses his or her condition before the end of the council's term of office for any of the reasons set out in Article 8 of Royal Decree 1960/2009 of 18 December 2009 governing the Councils of Residents Spanish Abroad, will be replaced by the first candidate or, if applicable, an unelected alternate from the same list that corresponds to the order of placement.

Article 4. Call for elections.

1. At least six months before the end of the term of office of the members of the General Council of Spanish Citizenship at the Foreign Office chosen as laid down in Article 11 (1) (a) of Royal Decree 230/2008 of 15 February 2008, The General Council of Spanish Citizenship in the Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation will warn the consular offices in whose constituencies there are more than one thousand two hundred Spaniards registered in the Electoral Census of Residents Absent and in those other in which, even when the number of Spaniards registered by below that value, this constituted a Council of Spanish Residents, of the obligation to call elections for the constitution or renewal of the Council of Spanish Residents, informing them of the expected date for the end of the mandate of the Members of the General Council of Spanish Citizenship in the Foreign Affairs mentioned.

2. At least four months before the end of the term of office of the members of the General Council of Spanish Citizenship in the Foreign Affairs mentioned, the heads of the consular offices shall convene elections to the Council of Residents. Spanish.

3. Where, having regard to the size and distribution of the Spanish community in the consular district, the head of the office considers it appropriate and, in any case, where a locality other than the location of the consular post is situated in the consular district, The office in which more than one third of those registered in the Electoral Census of Absent residents is residing, the constituency will be divided into electoral sections. The call shall specify the electoral sections to be established outside the city of headquarters of the consular post and the areas of residence that correspond to each of them. In any case, nominations and ballot papers will be the same for the entire constituency.

4. The head of the consular post, taking into account the latest available data from the Electoral Census of the Absent Residents corresponding to the consular demarcation and in accordance with the provisions of Article 5.2 of the Royal Decree 1960/2009, of 18 of December, under which the Spanish Resident Councils are regulated, will determine in the call if the Council will have to be constituted by seven, eleven or fifteen members.

5. The time interval between which the elections are to be held in accordance with Articles 7 and 13.7 shall be expressed in the call for elections.

6. The agreement to call for elections will be inserted in the bulletin board and on the website of the consular post, as well as, if it existed, in the Council of Spanish Residents, and communicated by circular to the associations of Spanish of the registered constituency in the consular post, and shall be further given the publicity which the head of the consular office deems appropriate.

Article 5. Election office.

The consular offices will act in their constituency as electoral offices in all matters related to the election of the Council of Spanish Residents.

Article 6. Submission of nominations.

1. Nominations for the election of members of the Council of Spanish Residents shall be submitted to the electoral office by any of the candidates or registered voters.

2. Nominations shall be submitted in lists which shall contain a number of candidates equal to the number of members of the council to be elected plus three alternates in the constituencies where the seven-member Spanish Resident Councils are elected; five alternates, for Councils of Spanish Residents of 11 members; and seven, for those of fifteen.

3. All candidate and alternate candidates must be eligible within the meaning of Article 10.3 of Royal Decree 1960/2009 of 18 December 2009 governing the Councils of Spanish Residents Abroad.

4. Each candidature, including holders and alternates, shall contain a minimum of forty per cent of persons of each sex. In particular, in the lists of seven incumbent candidates and three alternates, there shall be at least four persons of each sex; in the list of 11 holders and five alternates, seven; and in the 15-holder and seven alternates, nine.

Article 7. Place and date of submission of applications.

The lists will be presented in the electoral office within two months of the insertion of the convocation agreement in the bulletin board of the consular post. Such an office shall issue the appropriate certification of presentation in a copy thereof.

Article 8. Formal requirements for the submission of applications.

1. The lists of candidates must be supported by the signature of a number not less than fifty voters, if the Spanish residents ' council must be composed of seven members; seventy-five electors, if the council of residents Spanish must be composed of eleven members; or one hundred, if the council of residents must be composed of fifteen members. Next to the signature of the voter must be his name, two surnames and updated address. The signatures of signatures shall be accompanied by a photocopy of the passport or the national identity document. The signatures shall be verified by the means within the reach of the electoral office and, if the falsification of any of them is verified, the electoral commission established in Article 11 shall decree the inadmissibility of the list. The signatures of the voters appearing in more than one candidacy will be considered null and void in all of them.

2. The list of candidates shall be accompanied by a declaration of acceptance of the candidacy signed by each of the candidate and alternate candidates, as well as a photocopy of the passport or the national identity card of each of them.

3. Applications may be identified by a name, symbol and symbol. Names, acronyms or symbols which may be confused with those of other applications, or the use in the symbols of the shield or the flag of Spain, shall not be permitted. In the event of a dispute over the use of a denomination, symbol or symbol, the electoral commission established in Article 11 shall decide which candidacy has the best right to use. In the event that the best right cannot be determined, no candidate may use the name, symbol or symbol at issue.

In the event that nominations are not identified with their own name, the electoral commission will assign them an identification, which may be either a neutral character awarded by a draw or the name of the first candidate.

4. The candidate and alternate candidates shall appear on the list with their name, two surnames and the updated address, and the order of placement of all candidates shall be expressly indicated. No candidate may be included in more than one list; otherwise it shall be excluded from all lists in which it appears.

Article 9. List representatives.

The list of candidates shall also indicate the name, the two surnames and the address of the person, who may be a candidate and must be an elector, who shall act as the representative of the list, both for the purposes of communication with the election office to be part of the electoral commission that is regulated in article 11.

The electoral office will maintain communication on the electoral issues with the various candidates only through their representatives.

Article 10. Case of non-presentation of lists.

If no list has been submitted within the period referred to in Article 7 or no list has been submitted, the head of the consular post shall cancel the call. In that case, the head of the consular post shall convene new elections after a period of six months. In the event that no elections can be held either, the head of the consular post will only reconvene elections when the time comes according to the provisions of article 10 of the Royal Decree 1960/2009, of 18 of December, by which the Councils of Spanish Residents Abroad and Article 4 of this ministerial order are regulated.

Article 11. Electoral commission.

1. Once the period for the submission of lists has been completed and within a maximum period of seven days, the head of the consular post shall appoint an electoral commission of the constituency, which shall be chaired by the head of the consular post or by the member of the consular post. delegate, shall be composed of the following members:

(a) The representatives of the lists submitted in accordance with Article 9.

b) A maximum of five members proposed by common agreement by the Spanish associations or centres of the constituency with more than fifty members and at least one year of legal existence; if there is no agreement between they or the proposed ones are more than five, these members of the commission, up to a maximum of five, will be selected by lot among them.

Members appointed in accordance with this paragraph shall be eligible, in accordance with Article 10.2 of Royal Decree 1960/2009 of 18 December 2009 governing the Councils of Spanish Residents in the Foreign nationals, but may not be candidates or alternates or signatories in support of any of the lists.

c) A member, freely appointed by the chairman of the electoral commission, who will act as the secretary of the commission, with a voice but without a vote.

Article 12. Meetings of the electoral commission.

1. The president shall address and participate in the meetings of the committee, with voice and vote.

2. The Secretary of the Commission shall, on behalf of the President, take the calls for meetings, draw up the minutes of the meetings and participate in them, with a voice but without a vote.

3. The first meeting of the electoral commission will be convened by its president, before two days after the appointment of the members of the electoral commission, for its celebration not after seven days since the convocation. Subsequent meetings of the electoral commission, if necessary, shall be convened for the dates determined by the president, or the commission shall hear.

4. In order for a session of the electoral commission to be valid on first call, it must be present at the time indicated for the beginning of the meeting at least half of its components. Where a meeting of the committee cannot be held for lack of a quorum, the president shall immediately hold a second call to hold the meeting within a maximum of two days. The second convocation shall be sufficient for the President and the Secretary to be present for the meeting to be valid.

Article 13. Activities of the consular electoral commission.

The consular electoral commission will proceed to:

1. To verify the admissibility of the lists submitted and of each of its candidates in accordance with this order and the authenticity of the support signatures.

2. Establish, where appropriate, a period of forty-eight hours from the meeting to remedy possible irregularities in the applications, meeting again within a maximum of three days to determine whether the irregularities have remained Subsated.

3. Decide on the name, acronym or symbol of the entries in accordance with the provisions of Article 8.2.

4. To proclaim the candidates admitted and to send them to the electoral office to print the information sheets and the electoral ballots, insert the candidacies proclaimed in the bulletin board of the consular post and the candidates the publicity it deems appropriate in view of budgetary availability and always within the strictest neutrality. This will preferably be used on the website of the consular post as well as, if there is, that of the Council of Spanish Residents.

5. Approve the official ballot paper model or ballot paper. Depending on the number of candidates submitted, the electoral commission will opt for a single ballot in which all nominations will be found for the elector to point out the one to which he gives his vote or for a ballot for each candidate.

6. Provide adequate guarantee measures in accordance with the circumstances of each constituency to prevent the possibility of duplicity of the vote should the census be divided into several electoral sections with voting tables in different locations.

7. To indicate the date of the vote, to be held between the thirty and forty days from the termination of the deadline for the submission of lists.

8. Determine the voting time between a minimum of five hours and a maximum of nine hours.

9. Resolve any doubts about the development of the electoral process, by applying the provisions in force in Spain for the general elections.

Article 14. Electoral commission agreements.

1. The agreements of the electoral commission shall be adopted by a simple majority and shall be recorded in the minutes drawn up by the Registrar, who shall sign all the members present. Members who have voted against any agreement adopted by a majority may require that their opposite vote be recorded in the minutes. Members who are not present at a duly convened meeting shall be presumed to give their acquiescence to decisions taken by a majority.

2. Against the decisions of the Commission, it is appropriate to bring proceedings under Article 114.1 of Law 30/1992 of 26 November 1992 on the legal system of public administrations and the common administrative procedure before the Court of Justice. Director-General of Consular Affairs and Assistance for those with legitimate interest.

Article 15. Designation of president and members of the bureau.

1. Fifteen days before the date indicated for the vote, the electoral commission shall appoint a president and two vowels, and their respective alternates, of the table or tables to be established, by means of a draw among the voters residing in the city. where the bureau is established and are not candidates or substitutes for any of the lists submitted. The election commission will urgently consult the appointees if they accept the charges. The chairman of the committee shall appoint the members of the bureau who have not been able to cover the drawing system.

2. The list of representatives may appoint up to two days before the vote, two interventors for each electoral bureau, communicating it to the electoral commission. A financial controller of each candidate may attend the election table, participate in the deliberations, with a voice but without a vote, and exercise the other rights provided for in this order.

The representative of each candidate may perform the functions provided for in this paragraph in the absence of the interveners of his candidacy.

Article 16. Local and time of the vote.

1. The vote shall take place at the seat of the consular post during the hours indicated by the electoral commission.

2. Where tables are set up outside the host city of the consular post, the head of the consular post shall take appropriate measures in advance to obtain a place where the vote can take place.

Article 17. Development of the vote.

1. The ballot box and ballot papers, as well as the electoral lists, a copy of the applicable rules and the necessary desk material, will be provided by the electoral office.

2. The bureau shall be set up one hour before the time indicated for the vote. In the event that neither the members of the table appointed by the drawing board nor their alternates can be set up, the president of the electoral commission shall appoint new members of the bureau from among the members of the electoral office. In case of need, the table may be established with the presence of a president.

3. At the appointed time, the vote will begin. The procedure will ensure the secrecy and freedom of vote of all electors. The table will verify the identity of each of the voters by means of a reliable Spanish official document showing the photograph of the holder and his registration in the corresponding list of the Electoral Census of the Absent residents.

4. The vote shall be cast using the ballots, according to the official model, corresponding to the candidates admitted, who will be available to the voters in sufficient quantity at the place where the vote is taken. The voter will deliver the ballot within an envelope closed to the president, who will deposit it in the ballot box. The table will take note from the list of voters that the voter has voted.

5. The voter must not alter the ballot with any deletion, amendment, addition, modification of the order of the candidates or any graphic sign other than that which indicates, with indelible ink, the candidacy to which he gives his vote, in case a single ballot in which all nominations are found.

6. The act of voting is public. However, the president may regulate access to the room in the manner he deems appropriate to maintain order and secrecy of the vote, without being able to be held behind closed doors.

Article 18. Vote by correspondence.

1. For the vote by correspondence, the person concerned shall direct his or her signed application and accompanied by a copy of his Spanish identity document (national identity card or passport) in advance to the electoral office. The electoral office, if it receives the request to vote by mail at least three days before the election date and after collating the signature of the applicant with which it covers in the file of the Registry of Consular Registry, will send you to as soon as possible, the voting elements and the instructions for voting. In particular, the electoral office will send the voter who requests the vote by mail in a large envelope:

a) A certification of their enrollment in the Electoral Census of Absent Residents.

(b) The single ballot in which all entries or ballots in each of the nominations are recorded.

c) A small labeled "CRE Elections".

d) A major on the election office itself.

e) An instruction sheet on how to vote.

2. The voter will enter the ballot he has chosen or, if necessary, filled out in the small-rolled "CRE Elections", which will close; he will include this one in the envelope addressed to the consular post and will also introduce, within that second envelope and out of which it contains the vote, the certificate of its registration in the Electoral Census of the Absent Residents, in which it will have stamped its signature; finally, the voter will send to the consular office this second envelope by post or will deposit it personally in the consular office itself for delivery to the election table on the same day as the vote.

3. The electoral office will record on the census list that voters who have applied for voting by mail will be provided to the bureau, who will not be able to cast their vote personally.

Article 19. End of the vote.

1. After the voting period, the president of the bureau will open every external vote of the votes arrived by post until that moment, will verify the presence of the certificate of registration in the Electoral Census of the Absent residents, as well as a Photocopy of your passport or national identity card, you will enter the voting envelope in the ballot box and make the corresponding entry in the list of voters. These votes will be counted along with the rest.

Votes sent by mail to be received at the electoral table at any time before the end of the vote and contain the elements mentioned in Article 18.2 shall be entered in the ballot box. The votes to be received after that time shall not be counted, whatever the date of their postmark.

2. They shall then vote, if they so wish, on the members of the bureau and the interventors.

Article 20. Scrutiny.

1. The vote will be completed, without any continuity solution, the scrutiny, which will not be interrupted except due to force majeure.

2. The president will remove from the ballot box one by one the ballot envelopes, open them, read the chosen candidacy and make the ballot available to the remaining members of the table.

3. Votes cast on ballots other than the official model, or on official ballots with attachments, amendments or additions or more than one candidacy, shall be void. In case an envelope contains more than one ballot of the same candidacy, it will be computed as a single valid vote.

4. After the vote, the table will draw up the results act with the expression of the number of registered voters, voters, null votes, blank ballots, and votes obtained for each candidate. In the event of a discrepancy on the validity of a vote, the table shall attach to the results of the results the contested ballot or paper ballot for the final decision to be taken by the electoral commission.

5. The minutes of results signed by the members of the bureau and other electoral documents shall be submitted to the person appointed for the purpose by the electoral commission.

6. In the absence of this ministerial order for the scrutiny and drafting of the results report, the provisions contained in the Organic Law 5/1985 of 19 June of the electoral system will be followed, as far as possible and by analogy. general.

Article 21. Proclamation of results and attribution of posts.

1. The electoral commission, meeting within forty-eight hours following the vote, and after resolving the questions which have been submitted to it in connection with the incidents of the vote, shall give the posts and to the proclamation of the elect. The secretary shall draw up the minutes of the meeting, which shall be signed by all the members present.

2. Each list will correspond to as many posts as they result from the division of the total votes that it has obtained between the electoral quotient. The electoral quotient shall be the result of dividing the total number of votes cast among the number of posts to be filled.

The posts that remain unfilled after having awarded each list the ones that correspond to it under the previous operation will be attributed to the lists that have the greatest remains, adding to these lists that they do not have reached a number of votes equal to the electoral quotient; in case of equal remains, the most voted list shall be attributed.

3. The award of positions to the candidates will be done following the order of the list.

4. By way of derogation from the preceding paragraphs, if only one list is eligible for election, the list shall be proclaimed if the vote, which shall be held in any event, shall contain at least a number of votes equal to seven per One hundred of the total number of Spaniards registered in the Electoral Census of the Absent Residents of the Constituency. Otherwise, the election shall be cancelled and the head of the consular post shall convene new elections in accordance with Article 10 of this order.

Article 22. Advertisement of the results.

In the bulletin board of the consular post will be displayed certified copy of the act of the electoral commission. The result will be communicated by the head of the electoral office to the representatives of each list and the candidates chosen and will be given moreover the diffusion that the head of the consular office considers convenient, especially among the associations Spanish from the constituency.

Article 23. Meetings of the Council of Spanish Residents.

1. Before 5 days after the declaration of results, the head of the consular post shall convene the first meeting of the new Council of Spanish Residents for its conclusion within a maximum of 12 days and minimum of six.

2. The calls for subsequent meetings of the Spanish residents ' council shall be held by its secretary at the order of its president at least ten days in advance.

3. The council shall meet in ordinary session at least once every four months.

4. Extraordinary meetings convened by the President may also be held on his own initiative or at the request of three members, when the council has seven members; five members, with 11 members; or six, when the has 15; or at the request of the head of the consular post.

5. As long as a member of the Board has not lost his status, he may not be replaced at the meetings of the Board, even by the person called to replace him as provided for in Article 3.

Article 24. Minutes of meetings.

1. From each meeting held by the Council of Spanish Residents, the secretary shall draw up the minutes, which shall be approved by the Council at the same or next meeting and shall be extended in duplicate.

2. Members who disagree with the majority agreement may require that the meaning of their vote be recorded in the minutes, as well as their reasons.

3. The Registrar shall send one of the two copies of the minutes to the head of the consular post and shall incorporate the other in the book of records, of sealed, signed and numbered sheets, which shall be kept in custody until the end of his term of office, after which the he will give the head of the consular post to the head of the consular post, who will make him available to future Spanish residents ' councils.

The head of the consular post will incorporate the copy of each record into another record book with the same characteristics. The copy kept in the consular post shall make faith in the event of a discrepancy with which it is held by the Registrar.

Article 25. President and Secretary of the Council of Spanish Residents.

1. The presence of the president and the secretary of the council, appointed in accordance with article 6 of the Royal Decree 1960/2009 of 18 December 2009, which regulates the Councils of Spanish Residents Abroad, or those who do their always necessary for the validity of the meetings. Where the chairman is not present at a meeting, the oldest counsellor or, in the case of equality, the oldest member, shall do his or her duties. If the secretary is not present at a meeting, the president shall appoint one of the members present to act as secretary. The assumption of office referred to in this paragraph shall be exclusively for the meeting in question.

2. The mere fact of two absences, in two consecutive ordinary meetings or three alterns, even if justified, of the president of the council, shall determine the loss of his office. The President is subject to the common rules of the other members regarding the obligation to attend the meetings provided for in Article 8.3 of Royal Decree 1960/2009 of 18 December 2009 on the Spanish Residents Abroad, regardless of the loss of their status as president for any cause.

Article 26. Headquarters of the Council of Spanish Residents.

The head of the consular post shall provide, where necessary, to obtain the premises in which the council is to meet, which may be at the headquarters of the consular post.

Article 27. Agreements of the Council of Spanish Residents.

1. The quorum for the valid constitution of each session of the Council of Spanish Residents shall be the absolute majority of its components.

2. Agreements will be adopted by a majority of the attending members.

Article 28. Respect for local laws.

Both in the election of the council, and in its performance, local laws and regulations on the right of assembly will be respected.

Final disposition first. Extra rule.

All questions concerning the legal regime of the Spanish Residents ' Councils in Foreign Countries and the electoral commission; their presidents, secretaries and members; calls for and development of meetings and minutes of the same as those which are not expressly regulated or in Royal Decree 1960/2009 of 18 December 2009 governing the Councils of Spanish Residents Abroad, or in this ministerial order, shall be governed by the provisions of Chapter II Title II of Law No 30/1992 of 26 November 1992 on the legal system of administrations public and the common administrative procedure.

Final disposition second. Computation of deadlines.

Unless otherwise specified, references to periods in this ministerial order shall be construed as prescribed in Chapter II of Title IV of Law No 30/1992 of 26 November 1992 on the legal status of the public administrations and the common administrative procedure.

Final disposition third. Entry into force.

This ministerial order will enter into force three months after its publication in the "Official State Gazette".

Madrid, July 13, 2010. -Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Miguel Angel Moratinos Cuyaube.