King Juan Carlos has exercised his constitutional right as head of the Spanish state and will preside today's extraordinary cabinet meeting at the Zarzuela Palace, where each minister will outline his or her plans for the next four years.

Article 62 of the Spanish Constitution establishes the king's responsibility to be "informed about matters of state, and to this affect, and whenever he sees fit, to chair cabinet meetings having previously sought permission from the president of the government."

Since the ratification of the 1978 Spanish Constitution, King Juan Carlos has sat in on ten cabinet meetings, including the first of the administrations of Carlos Arias Navarro, Adolfo Suárez, Felipe González and José María Aznar.

The last time was on April 30th 2004 following the socialists' penultimate election win.

In the immediate aftermath of Franco's death, between 1975-76 as Spain was taking its first tentative steps towards democracy, King Juan Carlos chaired no fewer than five cabinet meetings.