This has been Francina Armengol's speech before the historic intervention of Pope Leo XIV in Congress

Initial summary

The President of the Congress of Deputies is the highest authority of the lower chamber and exercises functions of political direction, institutional representation, and internal order. Her competencies mainly derive from the Spanish Constitution and the Congress Regulations. Among her functions are presiding over the Plenary and the Board, guaranteeing the order of debates, organizing parliamentary work, and representing the Congress before other branches of the State and abroad. Additionally, she intervenes in the functioning of the legislative power, in the relationship with the Government, and in the exercise of certain constitutional competencies (such as succession in the Headship of State and the investiture of the President of the Government).

Basic normative foundation

The competencies of the President of the Congress are supported by two normative pillars:

1. Spanish Constitution: Although it does not exhaustively detail her functions, it does assign her a relevant role in several provisions: she directs the Constituent Session of the Congress and the election of the Board (art. 68 and related in parliamentary practice), presides over the General Courts in cases of joint session, and occupies a key place in the line of substitution of the King according to the regency regime provided in Title II. She also has an essential role in the investiture procedure of the President of the Government, within the framework of art. 99 CE, by organizing the sessions in which the candidacies proposed by the King are submitted to vote.

2. Regulations of the Congress of Deputies: This is the norm that more precisely defines her duties. It regulates the election of the President, her position as a single-person body of the Chamber, her relationship with the Board and the Spokespersons' Committee, and the rules of operation of plenary sessions and the internal bodies she presides over.

Direction and organization of the Chamber's work

A central function of the President is the direction of parliamentary activity. Among her regulatory competencies are:

• Calling and presiding over Plenary sessions, setting the agenda in accordance with the Board and the Spokespersons' Committee.
• Presiding over the Board of the Congress, the internal governing body that makes decisions on the qualification of initiatives, processing of bills, control of deadlines, admission of writings, and administrative organization of the Chamber.
• Guaranteeing the proper processing of legislative and control initiatives (bills and proposals, non-legislative proposals, interpellations, questions, motions, investigative commissions, etc.), ensuring respect for the Regulations.

In practice, this makes the President a key piece in the legislative cycle: from admission for processing in the Board, through the scheduling of debates and votes, to the certification of agreements that are subsequently sent to the Senate or the Government for promulgation and publication in the Official State Gazette (BOE).

Presiding over sessions and maintaining order

Another essential dimension of her office is the conduct of debates and the maintenance of parliamentary discipline. According to the Regulations of the Congress, it corresponds to the President:

• Granting and withdrawing the floor to deputies and members of the Government, ordering the speaking turns.
• Interpreting and enforcing the Regulations during sessions, resolving procedural order incidents and appeals to the Regulations.
• Maintaining order in the chamber, being able to call to order, withdraw the right to speak, warn, and even expel from the room deputies who seriously disrupt the session.
• Directing and proclaiming votes, as well as formally declaring the agreements adopted by the Plenary.

These disciplinary and interpretative powers grant her a relevant margin of discretion, although subject to the Regulations themselves and possible reviews by the Board or the Plenary.

Institutional representation and relations with other powers

The President is also the highest representative of the Congress:

• Represents the Chamber before the King (for example, in acts of sanction and promulgation of laws) and in solemn sessions of the General Courts.
• Maintains the institutional relationship with the Government, channeling official communications, receiving bills, and sending approved initiatives in the Congress.
• Exercises the representation of the Congress abroad, in international parliamentary forums and before other national parliaments and international organizations.
• Assumes a leading role in State acts and official ceremonies, such as joint sessions of the Congress and the Senate or institutional appearances.

Role in constitutionally relevant moments

Beyond ordinary management, the President of the Congress has a crucial role in constitutionally sensitive moments:

• Constituent session of each legislature: directs the election of the Board of the Congress itself, once a provisional President is elected and later a definitive one.
• Investiture procedure: organizes the debate sessions and investiture votes of the President of the Government, declares the results, and communicates to the King the person who has obtained confidence or the lack thereof, in accordance with art. 99 CE.
• Confidence motions and censure motions: orders and moderates debates, and proclaims the voting results, which have direct consequences on the continuity of the Government.
• Regency and substitution of the King: in case of regency or absence of the King, her figure is mentioned in the institutional architecture of the Crown as one of the highest authorities of the State, along with the President of the Government and the President of the Senate.

Guarantee of pluralism and neutrality

Finally, the President of the Congress must exercise all these functions with impartiality and respect for political pluralism. Although she is elected from among the deputies and belongs to a specific parliamentary group, the Regulations and constitutional practice require that, once in office, she acts as an arbitrator of the Chamber, guaranteeing the rights of all groups, especially minorities, and ensuring the balance between the governmental majority and the opposition.

Brief answer

In the last general elections held in Spain on July 23, 2023, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) obtained around 31.7 % of the votes nationwide and secured 121 seats in the Congress of Deputies. This positioned it as one of the main forces in the Chamber at the start of the XV Legislature. According to the most consistent information from official results and summaries of the Chamber's composition, the Socialist Parliamentary Group currently holds those same 121 seats in the Congress. Therefore, no variation is observed in its number of deputies between the electoral moment and the current parliamentary situation recorded in the consulted sources.

PSOE results in the July 23, 2023 general elections

The general elections of July 23, 2023 configured the current XV Legislature. According to consolidated electoral data, the PSOE reached a 31.7 % of the national vote. This figure places Pedro Sánchez's party as one of the two major state forces, in a context of high parliamentary fragmentation and strong competition with the People's Party.

In terms of representation, the PSOE obtained 121 seats in the Congress of Deputies. This figure corresponds with the data provided by official results and subsequent analyses of the Chamber's composition collected in sources such as RTVE – 2023 General Election Results, as well as statistical summaries of electoral monitoring available at Infoelectoral (Ministry of the Interior) and compilations like 2023 General Elections.

One of the consulted searches mentioned that the PSOE would have obtained 120 seats, but this figure contradicts the data from official and reference sources, which agree on 121 deputies. Since priority must be given to official electoral statistics and specialized repositories, the figure of 121 seats is taken as valid for the election night result.

Regarding the number of votes, one intermediate response estimated about 5.8 million ballots received by the PSOE, but this approximation is not linked to a specific official figure. Other more systematic sources place the total around 7,760,970 votes, consistent with the 31.7 % of the national vote, a figure recorded, among others, in the results compilation indicated at RTVE and in databases such as EPData – 23J Elections.

Seats currently held by the PSOE in the Congress

Regarding the current situation in the Congress of Deputies, sources describing the XV Legislature agree that the Socialist Parliamentary Group maintains 121 seats. That is, the current number of PSOE deputies in the Congress matches the seats obtained at the polls on July 23.

One previous search suggested that the Socialist Group might hold 110 seats due to changes during the legislature, but that information does not correspond with the most reliable and updated summaries, which continue to attribute 121 deputies to the PSOE. The synthesis information on the political composition of the Chamber, included in analytical and monitoring resources such as Demócrata – analysis of the investiture bloc, is consistent with that figure.

Additionally, the current parliamentary context places the PSOE as one of the central forces in the so-called “investiture bloc,” supported by other formations. Recent political analyses, such as those offered by Demócrata – general polls, emphasize that the party continues to be a key actor both in the Government and in the parliamentary arithmetic of the XV Legislature.

In summary, according to the official and reference sources consulted, the PSOE obtained 31.7 % of the votes, about 7.76 million ballots, and 121 seats in the general elections of July 23, 2023, and currently holds 121 seats in the Congress of Deputies in the XV Legislature.

Legal requirements for a foreign head of state to address the General Courts

The intervention of a foreign head of state before the General Courts is not expressly and detailedly regulated in a single norm, but is supported by the Constitution, the internal regulations of the Congress and the Senate, and the law of protocol and foreign relations. Legally, it is always a solemn and protocol act, without normative effects, organized by the Chambers themselves in coordination with the Government and the Royal Household. The political initiative usually comes from the Government or the Head of State, but the final decision on whether to hold the session and in what format lies with the Boards of the Congress and the Senate. In practice, a parliamentary custom has been consolidated to hold joint solemn sessions when the highest institutional rank is to be given to the foreign intervention.

1. Constitutional and regulatory basis

The 1978 Spanish Constitution does not specifically mention interventions by foreign heads of state. However:

– Article 66 CE defines the General Courts as the representation of the Spanish people and holders of legislative power, which implies that only their members can make decisions with legal effect.
– Article 56 CE configures the King as Head of State and symbol of unity, within which framework relations with other heads of state are also articulated.

The Regulations of the Congress and the Senate regulate the structure of sessions, the regime of order and discipline, and the possibility of solemn sessions and institutional acts, although without detailing a specific procedure for foreign authorities. Based on these general provisions, the Boards have broad discretion to agree that a foreign head of state may address the parliamentarians, setting the date, format, duration, and solemn character of the session.

Alongside this, government and protocol regulations (for example Law 50/1997, of the Government, and rules of precedence and official acts) frame the visit of the foreign head of state as a state or official visit, which includes acts in parliamentary headquarters when so decided.

2. Initiative and competence to issue the invitation

From a legal and practical point of view, several actors intervene:

– Royal Household: since the King is the Spanish Head of State, the organization of visits by other heads of state is designed in coordination with the Royal Household, which is usually the protocol axis of a state visit and contemplates, if applicable, an act before the General Courts.
– Government of Spain: through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Presidency of the Government, it promotes the visit, negotiates the program with the foreign party, and proposes whether or not to include an intervention before the Chambers.
– Boards of the Congress and the Senate: they are the governing bodies competent to organize the internal functioning and solemn acts of each Chamber. Only they can formally approve that the session is held, the place (hemicycle of the Congress, the Senate, or another), the date, and the conditions.
– Spokespersons' Committees: although their role is not decisive, it is common for the Boards to consult or seek political agreement with the group spokespersons, so that the foreign intervention has broad support and internal controversies are avoided.

3. Formal agreements and type of session

There is no constitutional figure of a “joint plenary” with legal effects, but there is the repeated practice of joint solemn sessions of the Congress and the Senate for institutional acts (legislature openings, commemorations, high-level visits).

To allow the intervention of a foreign head of state, the following are usually adopted:

– Agreements of the Board of the Congress and the Board of the Senate approving the holding of the act, its solemn character, and the presence of members of both Chambers.
– If applicable, a joint or coordinated agreement between both Boards, usually promoted by their Presidents, which sets the format: session in the plenary hall of the Congress with attendance of the Senate, presided over by the highest parliamentary authorities.
– The call is processed as an extraordinary session of institutional character, not as a debate or voting plenary, and this is indicated in the agenda.

4. Material and formal limits

The intervention of a foreign head of state before the Courts is subject to clear limits:

– Strictly protocol character: it is an act of courtesy and parliamentary diplomacy. The speech is not part of the legislative procedure nor political control.
– Total absence of normative effects: no content of the speech can have binding value for the Chambers; it generates no obligations nor modifies the legal system.
– Respect for parliamentary sovereignty: the guest does not participate in decisions, votes, or debates; they are limited to delivering a message, under the presidency and control of parliamentary authorities.
– Form and order: the Presidency of the session guarantees respect for the Regulations, determines the duration, closes the session, and may intervene to preserve institutional decorum.

5. Doctrine and consolidated parliamentary uses

Although there is no formalized “doctrine,” Spanish parliamentary practice has established several uses:

– These interventions are exceptional and reserved for visits at the highest level (heads of state or, in very specific cases, heads of government of special relevance).
– They are conceived as brief speeches, focused on bilateral friendship, cooperation, and shared democratic values, avoiding entering into internal Spanish debates or specific matters of the legislative agenda.
– They are always articulated with full respect for the autonomy of the Chambers, which retain complete control of the act, and are coordinated protocol-wise with the Government and the Royal Household.
– The repetition of this model has generated a consolidated parliamentary use that, although not codified in a specific law, functions de facto as a reference for future invitations.