President of the Spanish Senate

President of the Senate of Spain Presidente del Senado de España
Incumbent Pío García-Escudero since 13 December 2011
Style	Excelentísimo Señor (m) Excelentísima Señora (f)
Appointer	Elected by the Spanish Senate
Term length	4 years, no limit
Inaugural holder	José María Moscoso de Altamira y Quiroga
Formation	1834
Deputy	Vicepresident of the Senate
Salary	124.225,44 € (2017)[1]

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The President of the Spanish Senate (Spanish: Presidente del Senado de España) is the speaker of the Spanish Senate, the upper house of Spain's Cortes Generales. The current office was established in 1978 by Article 72, Section 2 of the Spanish Constitution, which states in part, "The Houses shall choose their respective Presidents...". However, the position has a tradition of almost 200 years, since its creation in 1834.

The current president, of the X Legislature, is Pío García-Escudero, a People's Party member who represents the electoral district of Madrid.

Functions

The functions of the President of the Senate of Spain are:

• Be the Speaker of the House and its representative in all official acts.
• To convene and preside over the sessions of the Senate Plenary and to keep the order of the discussions, direct the debates and convene and preside over the Senate Bureau.
• To convene and preside over, whenever it deems appropriate, any Senate Committee.
• Announce the agenda of the Senate Plenary.
• Maintain communications with the Central Government and authorities.
• Sign, with one of the Secretaries, the messages that the Senate must address.
• Interpret the Senate's rules of order.
• Supply, in agreement with the Bureau of the Committee of Regulations, the gaps of this one.
• Ensure observance of the rule of order,, courtesy and parliamentary usage.
• Implement measures regarding parliamentary discipline.
• The President also performs all other functions conferred by the Constitution, the laws and the rules of order.^[2]

Election

The President of the Senate is elected during the constitutive session which follows the General Elections of the Kingdom or during the next session following the resignation of the President.

The election of the President needs an absolute majority in the Chamber. If an absolute majority is not reached in the first vote, a second vote is held immediately after the announcement of the results by the temporal President of the Chamber (the elder deputy).^[3] The second vote needs only a simple majority (i.e., more "yes" than "no" votes). Each deputy is free to write the name he wants on his ballot, even if those deputies of the majority group vote for a candidate predefined by their party.

The President's term ends in case of death, resignation, loss of the status of deputy or after the dissolution of the Senate, prior to the holding of general elections.^[4]

See also

• List of Presidents of the Spanish Senate

References

External links

• The President of the Spanish Senate (from senado.es)