Overview
- Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron are in Madrid for a state visit on Sept. 29–30 and were formally received by King Felipe and Queen Letizia with military honours.
- A royal decree published before the visit grants Macron the Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic and gives Brigitte Macron the Grand Cross of the same order.
- The two-day program includes a Zarzuela meeting and lunch, a gala dinner at the Royal Palace, a Spanish‑French trade and investment forum, and a meeting between Macron and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
- The visit follows years of postponements caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Spanish political turbulence, and delays over the 2023 friendship and cooperation treaty that France ratified in March 2025 but which has not passed the Spanish Parliament.
- Attention on royal optics centers on whether Crown Princess Leonor will attend the gala dinner for what would be her first state banquet appearance, and the visit could shape whether treaty ratification returns to Spain’s parliamentary agenda.