The Constitutional Court unanimously dismantles the PP's blockade of the friendship treaty between Spain and France

The Constitutional Court has cleared the way this Wednesday for Spain to definitively ratify the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with France. The 12 magistrates have unanimously concluded that the agreement signed by Pedro Sánchez and Emmanuel Macron respects the Magna Carta and have rejected the doubts raised by the Senate at the initiative of the Popular Party.

The decision disarms the legal argument used by the PP to keep the treaty paralyzed. The endorsement has also come from a report prepared by Ricardo Enríquez, a magistrate from the conservative sector of the court, and with only a few days left before Macron's state visit to Spain on September 29 and 30.

The discussion focused on the article that contemplates the periodic invitation of a Spanish or French minister to a meeting of the Government of the other country. The PP argued that this formula could allow the presence of a foreign citizen within the Spanish Council of Ministers and violate several articles of the Constitution.

The Constitutional Court has ruled out that interpretation. The participation will take place "within the margins" of the Council of Ministers and through a separate meeting, as agreed by both governments in the exchange of letters carried out last April. The French representative will not, therefore, attend the session in which the Spanish Executive deliberates and adopts its decisions.

The ruling considers that this expression is fully established in diplomatic practice and within the European Union. Once the scope of the article has been clarified, the doubts raised by the Upper House "are unfounded," according to the court.

A strategic agreement that had been blocked for more than a year

Sánchez and Macron signed the treaty during the Hispano-French summit held in Barcelona in January 2023. The agreement establishes an annual bilateral summit and strengthens cooperation in areas such as security, defense, energy, migration, ecological transition, industry, education, research, and cross-border relations.

Its scope goes far beyond the diplomatic gesture. France is Spain's primary commercial client and third supplier. Around 330,000 Spaniards reside in French territory and more than a million people live in municipalities close to a border where transport, health, employment, and numerous public services depend on cooperation between both countries.

The French chambers completed their ratification in 2025. The Spanish side, however, has accumulated successive delays. The treaty initially failed in Congress due to the rejection of PP and the far-right Vox and the abstentions of Junts and Podemos. After finally obtaining the support of the Lower House, the absolute popular majority in the Senate promoted a requirement before the Constitutional Court that again suspended its processing.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, has celebrated the ruling and has accused the PP of trying to "dynamite" and "boycott" a fundamental agreement with Spain's main European neighbor and partner. He has also urged the Senate to quickly resume the vote to allow its entry into force.

The treaty must now return to the Upper House. If the PP majority rejects it again, the text will return to Congress, which can lift the veto through a new vote. Macron will arrive six days later in Spain to meet with King Felipe VI and Pedro Sánchez in a visit that had been pending for more than a year, among other reasons, due to the blocking of this agreement.