<P> In Part II of the 1978 Spanish constitution, among provisions concerning the Crown, Article 62 (a) invests the sanction (i.e. Royal Assent) and promulgation of laws with the monarch of Spain . Chapter 2 of Part III, concerning the Drafting of Bills, outlines the method by which bills are passed . According to Article 91, the monarch shall give his or her assent and promulgate the new law within fifteen days of passage of a bill by the Cortes Generales . Article 92 invests the monarch with the right to call for a referendum, on the advice of the president of the government (commonly referred to in English as the prime minister) and the authorisation of the cortes . </P> <P> No provision within the constitution grants the monarch an ability to veto legislation directly; however, no provision prohibits the sovereign from withholding royal assent, which effectively constitutes a veto . When the Spanish media asked King Juan Carlos if he would endorse the bill legalising same - sex marriages, he answered "Soy el Rey de España y no el de Bélgica" ("I am the King of Spain and not that of Belgium")--a reference to King Baudouin I of Belgium, who had refused to sign the Belgian law legalising abortion . The King gave royal assent to Law 13 / 2005 on 1 July 2005; the law was gazetted in the Boletín Oficial del Estado on 2 July and came into effect on 3 July 2005 . Likewise, in 2010, King Juan Carlos gave royal assent to a law permitting abortion . </P> <P> If the Spanish monarch ever refused in conscience to grant royal assent, a procedure similar to the Belgian handling of King Baudouin's objection would not be possible under the current constitution . If the sovereign were ever declared incapable of discharging royal authority, his or her powers would not be transferred to the Cabinet, pending the parliamentary appointment of a regency . Instead, the constitution mandates the next person of age in the line of succession would immediately become regent . Therefore, had Juan Carlos followed the Belgian example in 2005 or 2010, a declaration of incapacity would have transferred power to Felipe, then the heir apparent . </P> <P> Articles 41 and 68 of the constitution empower the sovereign to withhold royal assent from bills adopted by the Legislative Assembly . In 2010, the kingdom moved towards greater democracy, with King George Tupou V saying that he would be guided by his prime minister in the exercising of his powers . Nonetheless, this does not preclude an independent royal decision to exercise a right of veto . In November 2011, the assembly adopted an Arms and Ammunitions (Amendment) Bill, which reduced the possible criminal sentences for the illicit possession of firearms . The bill was adopted by ten votes to eight . Two members of the assembly had recently been charged with the illicit possession of firearms . The Prime Minister, Lord Tuʻivakanō, voted in favour of the amendment . Members of the opposition denounced the bill and asked the King to veto it, which he did in December . </P>

Where do most bills that are not passed stop