Leader of the Opposition (Spain)

Leader of the Opposition of Spain Líder de la oposición
Logo of the largest opposition party
Incumbent Pedro Sánchez since 26 July 2014
Residence	No official residence
Appointer	None The title is automatically awarded to the leader of the largest parliamentary party in the Congress of Deputies not in government.
Term length	No fixed term General elections to the Congress of Deputies are held every four years at most. As it is not an official title, its hold is not subject to law. The holder usually remains as such for the duration of its tenure as party leader.
Formation	1977
First holder	Felipe González

The Leader of the Opposition (Spanish: Líder de la oposición) is an unofficial title traditionally held by the leader of the largest parliamentary party not in government in the Congress of Deputies, the lower house of the Spanish parliament, the Cortes Generales. The Leader of the Opposition is invariably seen as an alternative to the incumbent Prime Minister of Spain at the time.

Despite its non-official character, the figure of Leader of Opposition has gained importance over the years because of its symbolism, usually receiving much more attention from the media in parliamentary sessions and activities, such as in the yearly-held State of the Nation Debate.

There is some ambiguity regarding the 'leader of the largest opposition party' definition. Usually, Leaders of the Opposition are both the official chairmen of the party as well as the candidate for Prime Minister, yet there has been one instance where both positions were held by different people. As such, in 1998–1999 Joaquín Almunia was the de facto party chairman, because of his position as Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (then-largest opposition party), but it was Josep Borrell who held the title of Leader of Opposition in parliament, as he had been elected as the party's Prime Ministerial candidate. For instance, the Leader of the Opposition is usually the person who is expected to lead the party in the next general election.

Leaders of the Opposition of Spain under the 1978 constitution

Names in bold indicate leaders that went on to become Prime Ministers.

Main Opposition Party		Leader of the Opposition		Date	Days	Legislature
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party		Felipe González	13 July 1977	1968	Const. (1977)
				30 March 1979		I (1979)
	People's Alliance		Manuel Fraga Iribarne	2 December 1982	1660	II (1982)
				24 July 1986		III (1986)
			Antonio Hernández Mancha	8 February 1987	712
	People's Party		Manuel Fraga Iribarne	20 January 1989	227
			José María Aznar	4 September 1989	2434
				5 December 1989		IV (1989)
				9 July 1993		V (1993)
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party		Felipe González	4 May 1996	413	VI (1996)
			Joaquín Almunia	21 June 1997	311
			Josep Borrell	24 April 1998	381
			Joaquín Almunia	14 May 1999	303
			Manuel Chaves	12 March 2000	132	VII (2000)
			José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero	22 July 2000	1364
	People's Party		Mariano Rajoy	16 April 2004	2805	VIII (2004)
				11 April 2008		IX (2008)
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party		Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba	21 December 2011	948	X (2011)
			Pedro Sánchez	26 July 2014	258

See also

• List of political parties in Spain
• Congress of Deputies