The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation has denied that no contacts were maintained with the Partido Popular in relation to the Treaty of Friendship with France, after the Senate rejected the text this Tuesday thanks to the absolute majority of the 'populares'.
Sources from Foreign Affairs have assured that it is "false that the Government has not contacted the PP for the Treaty of Friendship with France", and have specified that the minister himself, José Manuel Albares, called the PP's foreign affairs spokespersons in Congress and the Senate, Carlos Floriano and José Antonio Monago, as well as Alberto Núñez Feijóo's diplomatic advisor, Ildefonso Castro.
Furthermore, the same sources added, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Diego Martínez Belío, also contacted them, met with Carlos Floriano and spoke with Ildefonso Castro, within the framework of a negotiation in which the Government maintains that it did provide information to the main opposition party.
Documentation delivered and clarifications on the text
According to Foreign Affairs, all of them were given documentation about the treaty and the aspects they requested were clarified, so they reject the accusation that they were not informed about the content of the agreement, as sources from the PP had maintained.
The ministry thus defends that there was political and technical interlocution on a text that had generated controversy regarding its constitutional fit and the way in which the presence of ministers from both countries in governmental meetings would be articulated.
The Senate overturns the treaty despite the Constitutional Court's endorsement
The Senate overturned the Treaty of Friendship with France this Tuesday, with the PP asserting its absolute majority, despite the fact that the Constitutional Court approved the text last week and endorsed the interpretive agreement reached by both governments on the participation of a French minister in a meeting of Spanish ministers.
Article 2.4 of the treaty, signed in January 2023 during the Barcelona summit, stipulated that a French minister could participate in the Council of Ministers with a certain periodicity and, reciprocally, a Spanish minister could also do so.
The PP interprets that this provision is contrary to the Constitution, which led to its rejection in May 2025 in the Congress. To overcome this obstacle, both governments agreed in April that participation would not be in the Council of Ministers per se, but in a meeting on the sidelines of it.
The appeal to the Constitutional Court and the blocking of ratification
However, the 'populares' did not approve the agreement and from the Senate sent an appeal to the Constitutional Court, which ruled favorably on the text. Even so, the negative vote of the Upper House prevents the ratification of the treaty, which, being an international agreement, requires the approval of both chambers.