Grandee is an official aristocratic title conferred on some Spanish nobility. Holders of this dignity enjoyed similar privileges to those of the peerage of France during the Ancien Régime, though in neither country did they have the significant constitutional political role the House of Lords gave to the Peerage of England, of Great Britain and of the United Kingdom. A "Grandee of Spain" nonetheless enjoyed greater social privileges than those of other similar European dignities.
Equestrian portrait of Isabella II, her husband Francis, King Consort of Spain (left), and Infante Francisco de Paula (right) with the most important Spanish statesmen and army officers of the time, many of whom were Grandees of Spain, by Charles Porion, 1862
The Spanish nobility are people who possess a title of nobility confirmed by the Spanish Ministry of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Cortes, as well as those individuals appointed to one of Spain's three highest orders of knighthood, the Order of the Golden Fleece, the Order of Charles III and the Order of Isabella the Catholic. Some member of the Spanish nobility possess various titles that may be inherited or not, but the creation and recognition of titles is legally the prerogative of the Monarchy of Spain.
Portrait of a Spanish nobleman, The 5th Duke of Alburquerque, Grandee of Spain, at the height of the Spanish Empire, 1560
Palacio de Liria in Madrid, home of the Dukes of Alba
Leonor, Princess of Asturias, heir presumptive to the Spanish throne
Cristóbal Colón de Carvajal, 18th Duke of Veragua
