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Franco-Spanish friendship Treaty: despite rejection by the Senate, bilateral summit reaffirms shared ambitions

October 2026

On 29 September 2026, the Spanish Senate rejected the ratification of the Treaty of friendship and cooperation between France and Spain, signed in Barcelona in 2023, by a vote of 142 to 106. The People’s Party, which holds a majority in the Senate, opposed in particular a provision calling for regular exchanges between the two governments.

However, this treaty is of particular importance to border regions: it provides for the development of a common strategy for cross-border cooperation and the creation of a Franco-Spanish “Cross-Border Cooperation Committee.” This initiative followed in the footsteps of the Aachen Treaty (2019) with Germany and the Quirinal Treaty (2021) with Italy, which strengthened the framework for cooperation along these two borders.

The Senate’s rejection therefore represents a setback for the treaty’s ratification, though it does not call into question the commitment of France and Spain to continue their cooperation along the Pyrenees mountain range. The Spanish government, in particular, has expressed confidence that ratification will occur before the end of the legislative term.

For his part, the French President recalled the strong ties between the two countries and the many joint efforts on topics such as “economic, cross-border, and connectivity cooperation,” and on the issue of “energy interconnections,” a “shared vision on ongoing conflicts and sovereignty,” as well as “digital matters.”