The Spanish Senate, controlled by the opposition right, rejected a friendship treaty between Spain and France while French President Emmanuel Macron is visiting Madrid, Agence France-Presse reported.
One hundred and forty-two senators from the right-wing Popular Party and the far-right "Vox" voted "against" ratification of the treaty, and 106 senators - mostly representatives of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez - supported ratification.
The vote in the Senate took place at the same time as the start of a gala dinner given by Spanish King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia in honor of Emmanuel Macron.
The treaty was signed in Barcelona in January 2023 by Emmanuel Macron and Pedro Sánchez. It was then ratified by the lower house of the Spanish parliament and by both houses of the French parliament.
The Spanish People's Party, however, opposes a clause in the treaty that requires a member of the government of one of the two countries to be invited to a meeting of the government of the other country at least once every three months.
France has similar friendship treaties with Germany, Italy and Poland. Spain has similar treaties only with Portugal and Morocco.