| Consejo de Estado | |
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| Formation | 1526; 499 years ago (1526)[1] |
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| Type | consultative body |
| Headquarters | Palace of the Councils,Calle Mayor, 79,Madrid, Spain |
President | Carmen Calvo(since 2024) |
| Budget | € 14.69 million (2025)[3] |
| Employees | 142(31 December 2023)[2] |
| Website | www |
TheCouncil of State (Spanish:Consejo de Estado), is the supreme advisory body of theSpanish Government. It was established in 1526 by KingCharles I (V of the Holy Roman Empire) to advise him onforeign policy. Since the 19th century, the Council advises the government in all policies. It also advises the Monarch in the exercise of itsroyal prerogatives.
The council as the body through which the monarchs ruled their territories has its origins in theCrown of Castile with the creation of theCouncil of Castile in 1385 byKing John II. Other peninsular kingdoms likeNavarre also created its own council in 1481 byQueen Joan II and inAragón in 1494 byKing Ferdinand the Catholic.
King Charles I inherited vast territories throughEurope and decided to create a new council called «of State» due to the enormous foreign policy that marked his reign. This council started its duties in 1526 whenSultan Suleiman the Magnificent threatened Spanish possessions inAustria.
It was the only Council that did not have a president, because it was theKing himself who assumed that function. His advisors were not specialists in laws but experts in international relations, such as theDuke of Alba orNicolás Perrenot. The councilors were, therefore, members of the high nobility and the high clergy. In times ofPhilip II sometimes the monarch did not preside over the councils and, in his place, sent to its secretaryAntonio Perez.
It had a great influence during the reigns of Charles I andPhilip II and later during the regency ofMariana of Austria (1665–1675). The reforms ofPhilip V (1700–1746) emptied its actual power, althoughManuel de Godoy wished to revive it in 1792.
Unlike the Council of Castile, in which the King listened to the councilors and executed the conclusions presented to him, in the Council of State was the King himself who exposed the points to be discussed, listened to his advisors and, subsequently, the same monarch made the decisions that were to be made.
The Council of State has existed intermittently during 19th and 20th centuries. TheConstitution of 1812 granted the King the executive power and established that this was the only council to which the King could go to ask for advice. This obligation was over in 1814 whenKing Ferdinand VII restored absolutism. The Constitution configured the council as a King-control-body forcing the King to take to the council important issues like the sanction of the laws, the declaration of war or the conclusion of treaties that in any case the sovereign could undertake without having previously "heard" the council.
With the death of the King in 1833, the year later the council was abolished and theRoyal Council of Spain and the Indies was created instead as a superior consultative body but was abolished in 1836. In 1845, under the name ofRoyal Council the body was restored and for the first time the Presidency of the council was granted to thePrime Minister. In 1858 the original name recovered and since then the council has been regulated by numerous laws, the latest in 1980.
Nowadays the Council of State continues being the main and superior consultative body of the Government, but since 1991 some economic and social competencies have been transferred to theEconomic and Social Council.
The Council of State has its headquarters in thePalace of the Councils, Madrid. (LOCE § 1.3) TheConstitution and the 1980 Council of State Organic Act establishes the Council as the supreme consultative body of theGovernment. As its main capacity it oversees the observance of the Constitution and the rest of the legal system by giving advice either when established by the law or required by the government. (LOCE § 2.1).
The council is formed by the president, who is appointed by theCouncil of Ministers on the advice of thePrime Minister after appearing beforeCongress of Deputies, and three categories of Councilors:[4]
Permanent councilors must be in the same number of the existing sections of the Council of State
At least two members must be former presidents of the autonomous communities
40°24′53″N3°42′47″W / 40.41472°N 3.71306°W /40.41472; -3.71306
