The leader of the opposition () is an unofficial, mostly conventional and honorary title frequently (but not exclusively) held by the leader of the largest party in the Congress of Deputies—the lower house of the Spanish parliament, the Cortes Generales—not within the government. They are usually the person who is expected to lead that party into the next general election.

From 31 October 2016 to 18 June 2017, the title was disputed between the two largest parties in the left, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and Podemos. The position was left nominally vacant after Mariano Rajoy's government was ousted in a motion of no confidence on 2 June 2018, until the election of Pablo Casado as new PP leader. From 23 February 2022, the position was again left vacant following the ousting of Casado by most of the leading members of his party, led by Galician and Madrilenian presidents Alberto Núñez Feijóo and Isabel Díaz Ayuso.

Role Not specifically provided legally, the workings of the post are mostly based on custom, protocol and convention. The term "leader of the opposition" is only legally recognized in a Royal Decree passed in 1983 establishing the order of preference of public authorities in general official acts organized by the Crown, Government or the State Administration, acknowledging the figure of Opposition Leader but only to put it in fifteenth place in the list of precedences.

By agreement of the Congress Bureau of 28 December 1982, Manuel Fraga was acknowledged as leader of the opposition by the PSOE government of Felipe González—himself having unofficially led opposition from 1977 to 1982. Such an agreement, further expanded on 8 February 1983, established a series of conditions for the role and awarded some prerogatives for the officeholder: Determination of the person fulfilling the role of leader of the opposition must meet criteria of effective parliamentary number preeminence. There must not be a formal appointment. There is no need to raise compatibility issues for the role. Must lack a full-blown salary, even if it may have a right to representation expenses, vehicle availability as well as the care provided for bureau members.

The leader of the opposition is entitled a special office in the Congress of Deputies if they are a member of the chamber. In addition, the officeholder usually receives much more attention from the media in parliamentary sessions and activities, such as in the yearly-held State of the Nation Debate. Established precedent has also led for the leader of the opposition usually sitting directly across from the prime minister in the Congress seating plan, so long as they have a seat in the Congress of Deputies. While it is not required for a leader of the opposition to have a seat in Congress, there have been only three occasions where the recognized officeholder did not have such a seat: Antonio Hernández Mancha (1987–1989), who had a seat in the Senate. Pedro Sánchez (2017–2018), who vacated his Congress seat after resigning as PSOE leader in October 2016 and remained unseated upon re-election. Alberto Núñez Feijóo (2022–2023) who served as President of the Regional Government of Galicia, subsequently, he had a seat in the Senate.

Even with the absence of a law defining the role of the opposition leader, it is customary to conduct update meetings between the prime minister and the chairman of the largest party not within the government. However, such meetings are carried out mostly at the prime minister's leisure.

History Before 1983, the figure served only as an informal reference to the "Leader of the Main Opposition Party", who at the time was Felipe González as leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, the main opposition party in Spain during the country's transition to democracy until 1982. The first recognized leader of the opposition was Manuel Fraga, who in February 1983 was granted such a formal status by the Congress of Deputies Bureau, despite the rejection of several parties.

On 1 December 1986, Manuel Fraga resigned as People's Alliance chairman and was replaced in the interim by Miguel Herrero de Miñón. While Herrero de Miñón served as interim AP leader until a party congress was held in February 1987, he was acknowledged as Opposition Leader on his own right. This lasted until he was defeated by Antonio Hernández Mancha in the 1987 AP congress, which prompted his resignation as the party's parliamentary speaker and leader on 8 February 1987. Hernández Mancha became leader of the opposition, but was hampered by the fact of him not being a deputy at the time.

In 1998, with the People's Party in government, Josep Borrell beat PSOE Secretary General Joaquín Almunia in a party primary to elect the party's candidate to prime minister in the subsequent general election. Almunia maintained his post as party leader whereas Borrell was named the party's spokesperson in Congress and was awarded leadership over the parliamentary party, with the later being officially referred to as the leader of the opposition. However, both Almunia and Borrell kept clashing on leadership issues for months—in a situation referred to as 'bicephaly'—until an agreement between the two parts definitely recognized Borrell the condition of opposition leader in November 1998. He would eventually resign as candidate in May 1999, awarding Almunia the sole and undisputed leadership over the party and opposition.

The office came again under dispute in 2016, days after a caretaker committee under Javier Fernández had taken control over PSOE as a result of a leadership crisis in October. Podemos' Pablo Iglesias subsequently self-proclaimed himself as new opposition leader on the basis of his party's strength in Congress being close to PSOE's—67 seats to 84. During Mariano Rajoy's second investiture debate on 27 October, Spanish media and parliamentarians informally acknowledged Iglesias the role of opposition leader by virtue of Rajoy addressing him as his main rival during a heated dialectical exchange, coupled with PSOE's perceived inability to exercise as opposition after choosing to allow Rajoy's election. The chaos ensuing from the vacancy in the PSOE leadership led to other parties not recognizing a formal opposition leader.

Pedro Sánchez nominally re-assumed the title once he was reelected as PSOE leader in June 2017, although he did not have a seat in parliament as a result of him resigning in protest to his party tolerating Rajoy's second government in October 2016. The position was left vacant after Mariano Rajoy was ousted as prime minister in a motion of no confidence on 2 June 2018—with Rajoy himself rejecting to assume the title again—, until the election of Pablo Casado as new PP leader. From 23 February 2022, the position was again left vacant following an internal PP rebellion, led by Galician and Madrilenian presidents Alberto Núñez Feijóo and Isabel Díaz Ayuso, that resulted in the downfall of Casado as party leader following his abandonment by most of his party's colleagues and other leading members.

List of opposition leaders Portrait Name Tenure Party Opposition togovernment Election Prime Minister Manuel Fraga 1982 1986 AP González I 1982 Felipe González 1986 1986 González II 1986 Miguel Herrero de Miñón 1986 1987 AP Antonio Hernández Mancha 1987 1989 AP Manuel Fraga 1989 1989 PP José María Aznar 1989 1993 PP González III 1989 1993 1996 González IV 1993 Felipe González 1996 1997 PSOE Aznar I 1996 José María Aznar Joaquín Almunia 1997 1998 PSOE Josep Borrell 1998 1999 PSOE Joaquín Almunia 1999 2000 PSOE Aznar II 2000 José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero 2000 2004 PSOE Mariano Rajoy 2004 2008 PP Zapatero I 2004 José LuisRodríguez Zapatero 2008 2011 Zapatero II 2008 Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba 2011 2014 PSOE Rajoy I 2011 Mariano Rajoy Pedro Sánchez 2014 2016 PSOE 2015 Rajoy II 2016 Pedro Sánchez 2017 2018 PSOE Mariano Rajoy 2018 2018 PP Sánchez I Pedro Sánchez Pablo Casado 2018 2020 PP 2019 2020 2022 Sánchez II 2019 Alberto Núñez Feijóo 2022 2023 PP 2023 Incumbent Sánchez III 2023

Timeline

Notes

References

See also Prime Minister of Spain List of political parties in Spain Congress of Deputies