Spanish Senate blocks ratification of France-Spain friendship treaty amid right-wing opposition

In the midst of President Emmanuel Macron's state visit to Madrid, the Spanish Senate voted to reject the Franco-Spanish friendship treaty. The motion failed with 142 votes from right-wing senators of the People's Party and Vox, contrasted with 106 votes from members of the Socialist Workers' Party. The treaty, originally signed by Macron and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in Barcelona in early 2023, had already secured approval from Spain's Congress of Deputies, the French National Assembly, and the French Senate.

Opposition centered on a provision obligating a minister from each government to attend the other's cabinet meetings every three months, a clause the People's Party had long contested. Nonetheless, Spain's Constitutional Court had affirmed the treaty's legality just days before the vote. The rejection occurred as King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia hosted a dinner for the visiting French president, underscoring the diplomatic tension.