The Spanish Draft Constitution of 1873 was intended to regulate the

First Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic ( es, República Española), historiographically referred to as the First Spanish Republic, was the political regime that existed in Spain from 11 February 1873 to 29 December 1874. The Republic's founding ensued after th ...

. It was written mainly by

Emilio Castelar Emilio Castelar y Ripoll (7 September 183225 May 1899) was a Spanish republican politician, and a president of the First Spanish Republic. Castelar was born in Cádiz. He was an eloquent orator and a writer. Appointed as Head of State in 1873 i ...

, who intended to transform Spain from a

unitary state A unitary state is a sovereign state governed as a single entity in which the central government is the supreme authority. The central government may create (or abolish) administrative divisions (sub-national units). Such units exercise only ...

into a federation but the project failed to gain the approval by Parliament. Beyond the legal irrelevance of a document which never entered into force, this document is of political importance, being the first constitutional proposal in Spanish political history which would try to find a solution to an issue that has become more acute with the passage time: the territorial governance of the Spanish state. The draft planned to divide the federation into seventeen states: ''Andalucía Alta'' (" High Andalusia"), ''Andalucía Baja'' (" Low Andalusia"), ''

Aragón Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises th ...

'', ''

Asturias Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensiv ...

'', ''Baleares'' ( Balearic Islands), ''Canarias'' ( Canary Islands), ''Castilla la Nueva'' (" New Castile"), ''Castilla la Vieja'' ("

Old Castile Old Castile ( es, Castilla la Vieja ) is a historic region of Spain, which had different definitions along the centuries. Its extension was formally defined in the 1833 territorial division of Spain as the sum of the following provinces: Sant ...

"), ''Cataluña'' ("

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

"), ''

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

'', ''

Extremadura Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, it ...

'', '' Galicia'', ''

Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

'', ''

Navarra Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

'', ''

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

'', ''

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

'' and ''Regiones Vascongadas'' (" Basque Provinces"). Following the creation of these states, it is also stated that the territories of the Philippine Islands, Fernando Poo, "Annobon", "Corisco", and the establishments of Africa shall be elevated to the status of States by the "public Powers" "in accordance to the progression" of these territories.

References

Bibliography

* http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/obra-visor/proyecto-de-constitucion-federal-de-17-de-julio-1873/html/9f16f016-8564-4c4f-89e0-fbb00501b644_2.html {{Constitutions of Spain 1873 in law Defunct constitutions Constitutions of Spain Legal history of Spain 1873 in Spain Federalism in Spain