The first Spanish Constitution: The Bayona Statute

Abstract

The “Estatuto de Bayona” (1808) was in fact the first constitutional code in Spain, even when such a place uses to be said that belongs to the Constitution of Cadix (1812). The “Estatuto de

Bayona” was a “Charte Octroyée”, used by Napoleon to introduce in Spain an autocratic regime, that also included an elemental system of liberties. The Estatuto model was the “Napoleonic constitutionalism” (French Constitution of VIIIth year, and the Napoleonic Constitutions of Westfalia, Naples and Holland), but the participation in its making of an Spanish aristocratic chamber, permitted to include some modifications that can not be found in other Napoleonic Constitutions, such as the most important role belonging to the “Cortes” (Spanish Parliament).