Chris Green wrote:We are tending to drift from the original reason for the thread. Partly my fault!
And partly mine, too. To get back on the heraldic track: Chris used the term "grandees" in reference to the creation of Spanish noble titles. Actually, most Spanish titles do not carry grandeza. Most if not all dukes are grandees, but below that it's only a minority, and very few among those created since the restoration of the monarchy. Iria Flavia appears (from Spanish Wikipedia's list of grandees) not to be one of them. Grandees have a number of (now entirely symbolic) privileges that other nobles don't, including the right to display one's arms against a red mantle lined with ermine. And more importantly, the right to wear one's hat in the king's presence. I've also read that they take precedence over everyone else except the royal family, but the official Spanish order of precedence doesn't seem to mention them, so maybe not.
Back under the pre-1931 constitution, the hereditary seats in the Senate were only for grandees, not for all titled nobles.