Real decreto

Royal decree naming Mariano Rajoy as President of the Government of Spain.

The Real decreto (Spanish for "Royal decree"), in Spanish law, is a provision approved by the Prime Minister of Spain or by the Council of Ministers, adopted by virtue of its regulatory power. As such, it is hierarchically inferior to the law, although superior to other regulatory norms. The adjective "royal" refers to the fact that, although agreed by the Government, it is always signed by the King.

While the royal decree is the work of the executive branch, the law is the work of the legislative branch. For its part, the royal decree must be issued by the president or the full Government, while other types of regulations, such as the ministerial order, can be approved by a single-person body.

However, the content must not be confused with the form of approval: the administrative acts of the Council of Ministers also take the form of a royal decree, which is, therefore, the form in which the act takes place, but its content has no normative force.

See also

• Letters patent
• Royal Decree-Law (Spain)
• Royal Legislative Decree (Spain)