Macron will visit Spain with the Treaty of Friendship pending ratification: dinner with the Kings and meeting with Sánchez

The president of France, Emmanuel Macron, will visit Spain between September 29 and 30. During his trip, he will meet with the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and The King and Queen will offer him a gala dinner in his honor. 

Last Friday, Macron's trip to Spain was announced, and this Monday, the program and reason for the trip have been confirmed. In this context, Sánchez's government states that it is taking place within the framework "of the relations of friendship and cooperation maintained by both countries and the work they are doing to continue strengthening the bilateral relationship in all areas." 

Emmanuel Macron's visit to Spain will include two institutional meetings with the country's main authorities. The French president is scheduled to meet with Pedro Sánchez at the Palacio de la Moncloa on Wednesday, September 30, starting at 12:00 p.m., while the day before he will participate in a gala dinner with Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, presumably on Tuesday, September 29.

Macron will travel to Spain accompanied by his wife, Brigitte Macron, on a trip that will take place eight years after the trip the King and Queen made to Paris in 2018. The French president's visit had been pending since then and has suffered various postponements. Among the issues that have delayed its celebration is the lack of definitive ratification of the Treaty of Friendship between Spain and France.

The Treaty of Friendship 

The Treaty of Friendship between Spain and France, signed by Pedro Sánchez and Emmanuel Macron in Barcelona in January 2023, remains pending ratification due to discrepancies surrounding one of its articles. Specifically, article 2.4 stipulates that a minister from one country may attend, on a rotating basis and at least once every three months, the Council of Ministers of the other State.

The Spanish Executive already tried to push through the agreement in 2025, but the abstention of Junts and Podemos prevented its approval in Congress. A year later, the Government and France reached an interpretative agreement to circumvent the conflict: French ministers could be invited to specific meetings, although they would not be part of the Spanish Council of Ministers. Despite this, the PP maintains its rejection and used its absolute majority in the Senate to temporarily halt ratification, considering that this point could violate the Constitution and demanding that the Constitutional Court rule on it.

The treaty has already been approved by both chambers of the French Parliament, which gave their approval in March 2025. Now Paris remains waiting for Spain to complete the procedure. If the Constitutional Court endorses the Government's position, the text would return to Congress, where it could foreseeably be approved with the support of the groups that backed Sánchez's investiture.