Overview
- The two‑day state visit took place on Tuesday and Wednesday, with Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron received at the Palacio Real with military honors and a state banquet hosted by King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia.
- King Felipe issued a royal decree on September 28 granting Macron the Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic and Brigitte Macron the Grand Cross, and both wore their decorations at the gala dinner.
- Macron met privately with King Felipe and is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez as part of a program that included a Spanish‑French trade and investment forum, a student discussion, and visits to the EU Satellite Centre and Casa de Velázquez.
- The 2023 friendship and cooperation treaty remains unresolved in Spain because the Senate is still deliberating after the Constitutional Court found the pact constitutional and opposition parties PP and Vox raised legal objections.
- The visit completes an eight‑year arc of delays caused by the pandemic and Spanish political turbulence and could shape short‑term bilateral momentum by signaling elite goodwill even as parliamentary ratification is undecided.