The draft budget law is prepared annually by the National Government, through the Ministry of Finance "Ministerio de Hacienda (Spain)") (Secretary of State for Budgets and Expenditures). The budget procedure begins with an order from the Minister of Finance, in which he informs the different bodies, agencies and other public entities of the Administration of the guidelines for its preparation.[7] Once the Ministry has received the budget proposals of all the Administration services, this gives them coherence and becomes known as a preliminary draft.

Once the preliminary draft receives the approval of the Council of Ministers "Council of Ministers (Spain)"), it is formally converted into a bill and the Minister of Finance presents it to the Congress of Deputies at least three months before the end of the year. It is then that the Congress of Deputies decides whether to admit it for processing and whether to approve amendments "Amendment (law)") to the entirety, which if they go ahead will mean their return to the Government.

Once this process has been completed, the capacity for alteration by partial amendments is subject to the non-alteration of the budget balance. They subsequently pass to the Senate, which makes a second reading, but whose ability to alter them is very limited, with a final referral to Congress. They are subsequently sanctioned by the king and published in the Official State Gazette with the rank of ordinary law. If they are not approved, those from the previous year will be automatically extended.

The general budgets of the State include a forecast of income and expenses for the entire State, which means that it not only foresees the expenditure of the constitutional bodies and the central Government and its organizations, but also foresees the expenditure of the Social Security "Social Security (Spain)") and the funds necessary for the financing of the rest of the public administrations, so its approval or rejection influences the rest of the administrations.

The budgets of the autonomous communities and the municipalities "Municipio (Spain)") are organized independently, but must be subject to a common regulatory framework, for example in setting the public deficit. The legislation of the European Union, its budgets and the exchange of various payments and collections with the different Spanish public administrations, also imply different limitations on the national budgetary capacity and autonomy of Spain.[8]​[9]​.

Annual budget of the European Union

The Spanish institutions actively participate in the preparation and approval of the budget of the European Union and the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), that is, within the framework of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council, as well as in the European Parliament, specifically the Economic and Monetary Affairs committee.

Budgets of the autonomous communities

The Spanish Constitution does not say anything about what the budgets of the autonomous communities should be, although a budget equivalent to the national one is used for their preparation and approval. The approval of the regional budgets is not subject to any type of supervision by the General State Administration.

Local corporation budgets

Article 142 of the Constitution establishes that the municipalities "Municipio (Spain)") have financial autonomy, having their own budgets annually. They cannot, however, create their own taxes, since they have regulatory but not legislative power. The main economic regulation of a local entity is the fiscal ordinance, a standard with regulatory status that develops those provisions that the Local Treasury Regulatory Law allows; This law establishes minimum bases and gives the municipalities a lot of freedom to develop these bases.

The basic structure of local budgets, unlike that of regional budgets, is established by the Government. Local entities cannot present budget deficits according to article 135 of the constitution.

Breakdown by legislature

According to the Secretary of State for Budgets and Expenses, the General State Budgets and the GDP (in millions of euros), as well as the proportion of the former with respect to the latter, in recent years have been:

Breach of legal obligation

In Spain, during democracy, it has been established as a relatively common practice not to present PGE in a timely manner, as well as its consequent non-approval before January 1. Specifically, the years in which this non-compliance has occurred in democracy are the following:

The draft budget law is prepared annually by the National Government, through the Ministry of Finance "Ministerio de Hacienda (Spain)") (Secretary of State for Budgets and Expenditures). The budget procedure begins with an order from the Minister of Finance, in which he informs the different bodies, agencies and other public entities of the Administration of the guidelines for its preparation.[7] Once the Ministry has received the budget proposals of all the Administration services, this gives them coherence and becomes known as a preliminary draft.

Once the preliminary draft receives the approval of the Council of Ministers "Council of Ministers (Spain)"), it is formally converted into a bill and the Minister of Finance presents it to the Congress of Deputies at least three months before the end of the year. It is then that the Congress of Deputies decides whether to admit it for processing and whether to approve amendments "Amendment (law)") to the entirety, which if they go ahead will mean their return to the Government.

Once this process has been completed, the capacity for alteration by partial amendments is subject to the non-alteration of the budget balance. They subsequently pass to the Senate, which makes a second reading, but whose ability to alter them is very limited, with a final referral to Congress. They are subsequently sanctioned by the king and published in the Official State Gazette with the rank of ordinary law. If they are not approved, those from the previous year will be automatically extended.

The general budgets of the State include a forecast of income and expenses for the entire State, which means that it not only foresees the expenditure of the constitutional bodies and the central Government and its organizations, but also foresees the expenditure of the Social Security "Social Security (Spain)") and the funds necessary for the financing of the rest of the public administrations, so its approval or rejection influences the rest of the administrations.

The budgets of the autonomous communities and the municipalities "Municipio (Spain)") are organized independently, but must be subject to a common regulatory framework, for example in setting the public deficit. The legislation of the European Union, its budgets and the exchange of various payments and collections with the different Spanish public administrations, also imply different limitations on the national budgetary capacity and autonomy of Spain.[8]​[9]​.

Annual budget of the European Union

The Spanish institutions actively participate in the preparation and approval of the budget of the European Union and the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), that is, within the framework of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council, as well as in the European Parliament, specifically the Economic and Monetary Affairs committee.

Budgets of the autonomous communities

The Spanish Constitution does not say anything about what the budgets of the autonomous communities should be, although a budget equivalent to the national one is used for their preparation and approval. The approval of the regional budgets is not subject to any type of supervision by the General State Administration.

Local corporation budgets

Article 142 of the Constitution establishes that the municipalities "Municipio (Spain)") have financial autonomy, having their own budgets annually. They cannot, however, create their own taxes, since they have regulatory but not legislative power. The main economic regulation of a local entity is the fiscal ordinance, a standard with regulatory status that develops those provisions that the Local Treasury Regulatory Law allows; This law establishes minimum bases and gives the municipalities a lot of freedom to develop these bases.

The basic structure of local budgets, unlike that of regional budgets, is established by the Government. Local entities cannot present budget deficits according to article 135 of the constitution.

Breakdown by legislature

According to the Secretary of State for Budgets and Expenses, the General State Budgets and the GDP (in millions of euros), as well as the proportion of the former with respect to the latter, in recent years have been:

Breach of legal obligation

In Spain, during democracy, it has been established as a relatively common practice not to present PGE in a timely manner, as well as its consequent non-approval before January 1. Specifically, the years in which this non-compliance has occurred in democracy are the following: