The 13th Congress of Deputies was a meeting of the

Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Ma ...

, the

lower house A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

of the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

Cortes Generales The Cortes Generales (; en, Spanish Parliament, lit=General Courts) are the bicameral legislative chambers of Spain, consisting of the Congress of Deputies (the lower house), and the Senate (the upper house). The Congress of Deputies meets ...

, with the membership determined by the results of the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

held on 28 April 2019. The congress met for the first time on 21 May 2019 and was dissolved prematurely on 24 September 2019.

Election

The 13th Spanish general election under the 1978 Constitution was held on 28 April 2019. It saw the

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...

(PSOE) became the largest party in the Congress of Deputies for the first time since

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, but falling short of a majority.

History

The new congress met for the first time on 21 May 2019 and after two rounds of voting

Meritxell Batet Meritxell Batet Lamaña (born 19 March 1973) is a Spanish jurist and politician member of the Socialists' Party of Catalonia, currently serving as President of the Congress of Deputies. Prior to this, she served as Minister for Territorial Polic ...

(PSOE) was elected as

President of the Congress of Deputies The president of the Congress of Deputies ( es, 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 o ...

with the support of the Unidos Podemos–En Comú Podem (UP–ECP) and various nationalist and regionalist parties. Other members of the Bureau of the Congress of Deputies were also elected on 21 May 2019:

Gloria Elizo María Gloria Elizo Serrano (born December 11, 1966) is a Spanish lawyer, politician of Podemos (Spanish political party) and the third vice president of the Congress of Deputies.

(UP), First Vice-President; Alfonso Rodríguez (PSOE), Second Vice-President; Ana Pastor (PP), Third Vice-President; Ignacio Prendes (Cs), Fourth Vice-President; Gerardo Pisarello (ECP), First Secretary; Sofía Hernanz (PSOE), Second Secretary;

Adolfo Suárez Adolfo Suárez González, 1st Duke of Suárez (; 25 September 1932 – 23 March 2014) was a Spanish lawyer and politician. Suárez was Spain's first democratically elected prime minister since the Second Spanish Republic and a key figure in th ...

(PP), Third Secretary; and

Patricia Reyes Patricia is a female given name of Latin origin. Derived from the Latin word '' patrician'', meaning "noble"; it is the feminine form of the masculine given name Patrick. The name Patricia was the second most common female name in the United Stat ...

(Cs), Fourth Secretary.

Government

In July 2019,

caretaker Caretaker may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Caretaker'' (film), a 1963 adaptation of the play ''The Caretaker'' * '' The Caretakers'', a 1963 American film set in a mental hospital * Caretaker, a character in the 1974 film '' ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Pedro Sánchez Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón (; born 29 February 1972) is a Spanish politician who has been Prime Minister of Spain since June 2018. He has also been Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) since June 2017, having pr ...

(PSOE) failed to secure the necessary votes in congress to form a government after the failure of coalition talks with UP–ECP. Unable to obtain enough support in congress to form a government, Sánchez announced on 17 September 2019 that an election would be held on 10 November 2019, the fourth in as many years. The

13th Cortes Generales The 13th Cortes Generales was a meeting of the Cortes Generales, the national legislature of Spain, with the membership determined primarily by the results of the general election held on 28 April 2019. The cortes met for the first time on 21 May ...

was formally dissolved on 24 September 2019.

Deaths, disqualifications, resignations and suspensions

The 13th congress has seen the following deaths, disqualifications, resignations and suspensions: * 24 May 2019 – Jailed

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

deputies

Oriol Junqueras Oriol Junqueras i Vies (; born 11 April 1969) is a Catalan politician and historian from Spain. A former mayor of the municipality of Sant Vicenç dels Horts in Catalonia, Junqueras served as Vice President of Catalonia from January 2016 to Oct ...

(ERC–Sob),

Josep Rull Josep Rull i Andreu (born 2 September 1968) is a Spanish politician from Catalonia. He served as the Counselor of Territory and Sustainability of Catalonia at the Government of Carles Puigdemont between 2016 and 2017, when Spanish Rajoy's Gover ...

(JxCat),

Jordi Sànchez Jordi () is the Catalan form of the ancient Greek name Georgios. Jordi is a popular name in Catalonia and is also given in the Netherlands and in Spanish-, English- and German-speaking countries. Jordi may also refer to: *Sant Jordi – patron sa ...

(JxCat) and

Jordi Turull Jordi Turull i Negre (born 6 September 1966) is a Spanish politician associated with Together for Catalonia. Since March 2018 he has been in pre-trial custody by order of the Supreme Court of Spain and accused of sedition and rebellion. On 10 Ju ...

(JxCat), currently being

tried In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, ...

on charges of rebellion, sedition, criminal organization and misuse of public funds in relation to the Catalan independence referendum and subsequent

declaration of independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...

, are suspended from congress. * 31 May 2019 –

Rafael Catalá Rafael Catalá Polo (born 21 June 1961) is a Spanish politician and member of the People's Party. He has been Minister of Justice and First Notary of the Kingdom since September 2014, and was additionally interim Minister of Public Works betw ...

(PP) resigned to return to the

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The ...

. He was replaced by María Jesús Bonilla (PP) on 12 June 2019. * 26 June 2019 – Toni Roldán (Cs) resigned following political disagreement with the Citizens leadership. He was replaced by Carina Mejías (Cs) on 15 July 2019. * 8 July 2019 –

Blanca Fernández Blanca Fernández de la Granja (born 1 April 1992 in León) is a Spanish runner competing primarily in middle-distance events. She has represented her country at several World and European cross country championships through different age group ...

(PSOE) resigned after being appointed Minister of Equality of

Castilla–La Mancha Castilla–La Mancha (, , ), or Castile La Mancha, is an autonomous community of Spain. Comprising the provinces of Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Guadalajara and Toledo, it was created in 1982. The government headquarters are in Toledo, and ...

. She was replaced by

Cristina López Cristina López may refer to: * Cristina López (racewalker) Cristina Esmeralda López (born 19 September 1982 in Ozatlán) is a Salvadoran race walker. When she won the gold medal at the Pan American Games, she made history by winning the ...

(PSOE) on 15 July 2019. * 17 July 2019 – María Isabel Blanco (PP) resigned after being appointed Minister of Family and Equal Opportunities of

Castile and León Castile and León ( es, Castilla y León ; ast-leo, Castiella y Llión ; gl, Castela e León ) is an autonomous community in northwestern Spain. It was created in 1983, eight years after the end of the Francoist regime, by the merging of the ...

. She was replaced by Elvira Velasco (PP) on 19 July 2019. * 19 August 2019 – Marta Rivera (Cs) resigned after being appointed Minister of Culture and Tourism of the

Community of Madrid The Community of Madrid (; es, Comunidad de Madrid ) is one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. It is located in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, and of the Central Plateau (''Meseta Central''). Its capital and largest munici ...

. She was replaced by María Vilas (Cs) on 29 August 2019. * 5 September 2019 –

Francisco de la Torre Francisco de la Torre (c. 1460 - c. 1504) was a Spanish composer mainly active in the Kingdom of Naples. His hometown may have been Seville. His music can be found in ''La música en la corte de los Reyes Musulmanes'', edited by H. Anglès (194 ...

(Cs) resigned following political disagreement with the Citizens leadership.

Members

Notes

References

* * {{Reflist, 30em 2019 establishments in Spain 2019 disestablishments in Spain Congress of Deputies (Spain)