President of the Congress of Deputies

For a list of presidents of the Congress, see List of presidents of the Congress of Deputies of Spain.

The president of the Congress of Deputies (Spanish: Presidente del Congreso de los Diputados) is the speaker of the Congress of Deputies, the lower house of the Cortes Generales (the Spanish parliament). The president is elected among the members of the Congress and is, after the king and the prime minister, the highest authority in the Kingdom of Spain.

President of the Congress of Deputies
Coat of Arms of the Congress of Deputies
Incumbent Francina Armengol since 17 August 2023
Congress of Deputies
Style	The Most Excellent
Seat	Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid
Appointer	Congress of Deputies
Term length	Four years, renewable
Constituting instrument	Spanish Constitution
Formation	24 September 1810; 214 years ago (1810-09-24)
First holder	Ramón Lázaro de Dou y de Bassols
Deputy	Vice Presidents
Salary	€230,926.48 annually[1]
Website	www.congreso.es

Although the president (or speaker) shares the representation of the Cortes Generales with the president of the Senate, the constitutional functions that are granted to the office in terms of royal countersigning and the election process of the Prime Minister, makes the president of the Congress the de facto leader of the legislative branch. This position is also reinforced by the asymmetric bicameralism that gives greater prominence to the lower house.

The current office was established by the Spanish Constitution of 1978, however, the position has a tradition of more than 200 years, since its creation in 1810 as President of the Cortes of Cádiz.

The current Speaker, of the 15th Cortes Generales (102nd since the Cortes of Cádiz), is Francina Armengol, a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party who represents the electoral district of the Balearic Islands.^[2]

Collective Presidency

There are traditionally two models for the presidency of a parliamentary assembly, the collective presidency composed of a Bureau, and individual speakership.^[3]

The first model has been called the "continental European model"^[4] since it has been adopted by most European parliaments including Spain.^[5] The bureau manages the house's work and the speaker chairs the bureau. In addition the Speaker chairs the chamber and guarantees the opposition's rights but does not give up their political affiliation and may participate in debates.

The second model is an individual speakership in which the holder of the office is the sole guarantor of the chamber’s independence and privileges, of which the archetype is the Speaker at Westminster. In this model, supervising the House's work is performed by others (for example, in many British Commonwealth countries, the Leader of the House). The United States House of Representatives represents a variation of this model with the Speaker being also the leader of the majority in the chamber, in contrast to the Speaker at Westminster who rejects all political affiliation.

Functions

The Speaker^[6]

• directs and maintains order during debates to ensure progress of Congress business without hindrance
• directs and coordinates the Bureau's action
• represents the House
• interprets the standing orders but subject to agreement with the Bureau and Board of Spokespersons

Election

See also: List of Presidents of the Congress of Deputies of Spain

The speaker or president of the Congress of Deputies is elected during the constitutive session which is the first sitting following the General Elections of the Kingdom or during the next session following the resignation of the Speaker.

The first step is to establish a temporary body composed by the oldest member of each House which acts as Acting Speaker and two secretaries which are the youngest members of the House. This body oversees the electoral process of the Speaker.^[7]

The Speaker is elected by absolute majority or, failing that, through plurality in a second round between the two candidates that received most votes in the first round.^[8] The second vote needs only a simple majority (i.e., more «yes» than «no» votes). Each deputy is free to write the name they want on his ballot, even if the deputies of the majority group vote for a candidate predefined by their party.

The Speaker's term ends in case of death, resignation, loss of the status of deputy or after the dissolution of the Congress of Deputies, prior to the holding of general elections.

Vice presidents

The Congress' Standing Orders establish that there are four deputy speakers (or vice presidents) of the Congress.^[9] All deputy speakers are elected using the single non-transferable vote method which ensures plurality, i.e. representation of the largest parties in the Congress.^[8]

Deputy speakers deputise for the Speaker in cases of vacancy, absence or impossibility to exercise. They may also be delegated functions by the Speaker.^[10] A deputy speaker must also be present at meetings of the Board of Spokespersons.^[11]

Order	Name		Term start	Party
1st		Alfonso Rodríguez	3 December 2019		PSOE
2nd		José Antonio Bermúdez de Castro	17 August 2023		PP
3rd		Esther Gil de Reboleno Lastortres [es]	17 August 2023		Sumar
4th		Marta González Vázquez	17 August 2023		PP

References

1. "Las presidentas del Congreso y del Senado cobran más del doble que el presidente del Gobierno". larazon.es. Retrieved 2021-10-24.
2. Rodríguez, Miguel Ángel (2023-08-17). "Francina Armengol, elegida nueva presidenta del Congreso con los votos de ERC y Junts". elperiodico (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-08-17.
3. Bergougnous 1997, p. 3.
4. Bergougnous 1997, p. 49,108.
5. Bergougnous 1997, p. 93.
6. Congress Standing Orders, Section 30,32.
7. Congress Standing Orders, Sections 1-3.
8. Congress Standing Orders, Section 37.
9. Congress Standing Orders, Section 30(2),33.
10. Congress Standing Orders, Section 33.
11. Congress Standing Orders, Section 39.

Bibliography

• "Standing Orders of the Congress of Deputies" (PDF). Congress of Deputies. Retrieved 2023-09-12.
• Bergougnous, Georges (1997). Presiding Officers of National Parliamentary Assemblies. Geneva: Inter-Parliamentary Union. ISBN 92-9142-028-X. Retrieved 2023-09-21.

External links

• The President of the Congress of Deputies