The referendum law was used twice during Franco's rule—in 1947, when a referendum revived the Spanish monarchy with Franco as de facto regent for life with sole right to appoint his successor; and in 1966, another referendum was held to approve a new "organic law", or constitution, supposedly limiting and clearly defining Franco's powers as well as formally creating the modern office of Prime Minister of Spain.
Referendum Zakon je korišten dva puta tijekom Francove vladavine - 1947. godine, kada je referendum oživio španjolsku monarhiju s Francom kao de facto doživotnim regentom s jedinistvenim pravom imenovanja nasljednika, te 1966. godine, za odobrenje novog "organskog zakona" ili ustava, koji je navodno ograničavao i jasno definirao Francove ovlasti, kao i formalno stvorio moderni ured predsjednika Vlade Španjolske.