President of the Congress of Deputies | |
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![]() Coat of Arms of the Congress of Deputies | |
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 |
First holder | Ramón Lázaro de Dou y de Bassols |
Deputy | Vice Presidents |
Salary | €230,926.48 annually[1] |
Website | www.congreso.es |
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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.
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]