Parliamentary group (Spain)

Parliamentary groups in Spain are the union of members of parliament who may or may not belong to the same political party, but with the same or similar political ideology. The figure of the parliamentary group is common to the Cortes Generales, the national parliament of Spain, and the regional legislatures.

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There is not a unified regulation on what the requirements are to form a parliamentary group. In the case of the national parliament, each House possess their own standing rules establishing the requirements. As common aspects, the senators or deputies that do not belong to a parliamentary group are integrated in the Mixed Group. Also, the groups are represented by a Spokesperson (that may be or not the leader of the political party).

National legislature

Senate

According to the Standing Orders of the Senate, the Senate's parliamentary groups needs a minimum of 10 senators to be formed and during the term of the legislature, this number can not go below 6 senators. In this case, the group would be dissolved(II § 27).

Each group can freely choose their name (II § 27) and they have to present before the Bureau of the Senate in the five days after the constitutive session the request in which they must to indicate which senators will form part of the parliamentary group. In the case of regional senators (appointed by the regional legislatures), they have five days since the appointment to integrate in one of the parliamentary groups (II § 28).[1]

The Senate's parliamentary groups are subdivided in Territorial Groups. These groups are formed by a minimum of 3 senators belonging to specific constituencies (II § 32).

As of December 2019, in the 14th Senate, these are the Senate' parliamentary groups:[2]

Party or alliance Leader Spokesperson MPs
Socialist Parliamentary Group (GPS)
 Pedro Sánchez
(PM)		 Eva Granados 113
Popular Parliamentary Group (GPP)
 Alberto Núñez Feijóo Javier Maroto 97
Republican Left-EH Bildu Parliamentary Group (GPERB)
 Mirella Cortès Gès 15
Basque Parliamentary Group (GPV)
 Jokin Bildarratz 10
Citizens Parliamentary Group (GPC)
 Inés Arrimadas Miguel Sánchez López 9
Confederal Left Parliamentary Group (GPIC)
 Carles Mulet García 6
Nationalist Parliamentary Group (GPN)
 Josep Lluís Cleries 6
Mixed Parliamentary Group (GPMX)
 Joaquín Egea
Juan Ros
Fabián Chinea
Clemente Sánchez-Garnica
José Miguel Fernández
Alberto Catalán		 9
There is a missing senator of regional designation for Catalonia that is pending be appointed.

Congress of Deputies

The Congress of Deputies is the lower house of the Cortes Generales and the strongest of both houses. The requirements to form a parliamentary group in Congress are more complex (II § 23):

  • The parliamentary groups needs a minimum of 15 MPs.
  • In the case of not having 15 MPs, the parliamentary groups with no less than 5 MPs with a 5% of the national vote or a 15% of vote in their constituency, can form a parliamentary group.

As in the Senate, the parliamentary groups have to be formed within the five days after the constitutive session of the House and they need the approval of the Bureau of the Congress (II § 24).[3]

As of December 2019, in the 14th Cortes Generales, these are the Congress' parliamentary groups:[4]

Party or alliance Leader Spokesperson Ideology MPs
Socialist Parliamentary Group (GPS)
 Pedro Sánchez
(PM)		 Patxi López Social democracy 120
Popular Parliamentary Group (GPP)
 Alberto Núñez Feijóo Cuca Gamarra Conservatism
Christian democracy		 88
Vox Parliamentary Group (GPVOX)
 Santiago Abascal Iván Espinosa de los Monteros Right-wing populism
National conservatism		 52
Confederal Group of Unidas Podemos–
En Comú Podem–Galicia en Común (GPPOD)
 Yolanda Díaz
(SDPM)		 Pablo Echenique Left-wing populism
Democratic socialism		 35
Plural Parliamentary Group
 Laura Borràs
Íñigo Errejón
Ana Oramas
Pedro Quevedo
Joan Baldoví
Néstor Rego
José María Mazón
Tomás Guitarte		 Laura Borràs This group is formed by MPs without its own
parliamentary group, so the ideology is diverse.
The Plural Group is a split from the Mixed
Group to reduce the size of the latest.		 16
Republican Parliamentary Group
 Gabriel Rufián Catalan independence
Social democracy
Democratic socialism		 13
Citizens Parliamentary Group (GPC)
 Inés Arrimadas Liberalism 10
Basque Parliamentary Group (GPV)
 Aitor Esteban Basque nationalism
Christian democracy
Conservative liberalism		 6
Euskal Herria Bildu Parliamentary Group (GPEHB)
 Mertxe Aizpurua Basque nationalism
Separatism
Socialism
Left-wing nationalism		 5
Mixed Parliamentary Group (GPMX)
 Mireia Vehí
Sergio Sayas
Isidro Martínez Oblanca		 This group is formed by MPs without a
parliamentary group, so the ideology is diverse.		 5

References
  1. "Senate of Spain Standing Orders (in Spanish)". www.boe.es. Retrieved 2019-05-31.
  2. España, Senado de. "Cuadro resumen de Grupos Parlamentarios (Composición actual)". www.senado.es. Retrieved 2019-05-31.
  3. "Congress of Deputies' Standing Orders (in Spanish)". www.boe.es. Retrieved 2019-05-31.
  4. "Parliamentary groups of the Congress of Deputies for the 13th Cortes Generales".

Notes
^ The parliamentary groups are divided according to political parties. Groups of less than 6 senators do exist because other political parties lend their senators to other parties in order to allow them to have a parliamentary group.
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