Macron backs Spain over Ceuta migration crisis and urges firm EU action

Sánchez and Macron back cooperation between Spain and France and call for greater EU unity on migration, economic and geopolitical issues, despite the Spanish Senate's rejection of the bilateral Friendship Treaty.

The Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez and French president Emmanuel Macron highlighted the close relationship between their two countries and urged greater European unity to confront key migratory, economic and geopolitical challenges.

The joint press conference at the Moncloa Palace was also marked by the Spanish Senate's rejection of the Treaty of Friendship between Spain and France.

Sánchez apologised to Macron for the Upper House's no vote and promised that parliament would approve an agreement of this kind before the end of the current term. "All I can do is apologise," the Spanish premier said of Tuesday's rejection, insisting that the treaty would be adopted again to reaffirm the "sense of brotherhood" between the two countries.

The Treaty of Friendship, signed by Sánchez and Macron in Barcelona in January 2023, had already been endorsed by the lower house of parliament and ratified by France. However, the Senate voted it down on Tuesday, with 142 votes against from the PP and Vox, compared with 106 in favour and one abstention.

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